


The Same Inside

by A_Zap



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU where everyone lives in the Tower and nothing past the first Avengers movie has happened yet, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Stony - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 18:44:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12990225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Zap/pseuds/A_Zap
Summary: Things are really not going Steve's way after he gets hit by a blast that reverts him back to his pre-serum state. Now he has to deal with overprotective teammates, a guilty Tony, supervillians, and his feelings for a certain stupidly guilty genius. Can he prove that he's the same person no matter what?





	1. Chapter 1

" _A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!" – Tony Stark_

Steve was learning to hate Mondays.

Back in his day (and God, didn't that make him sound like the old man that Tony insisted on teasing him about), he didn't really have much preference for any day of the week or any resentment towards any day. Now, in this crazy time, he was starting to hate Mondays.

Because it seemed, at least to him, that geniuses tended to experiment on weekends and then on Monday, they would unleash their crazy experiments on others. When this was confined to the Tower and was the result of the two resident geniuses, Steve was fine with it (although every Avenger agreed to never speak of the time that Tony somehow gave the toilets sentience. Luckily, the toilets had gone back to normal). When the crazy experiments came from kids who were in over their head or from actual villains, Steve had a legitimate problem. And it always happened on Monday.

Today's villain, who called himself Chaos Creator (which appeared to suit him), had apparently created some sort of ray gun that gave a variety of results since nothing that was hit with it ended up the same way.

Steve quickly threw his shield at the mailbox that had come to life and was currently attacking citizens like a rabid dog. The vibranium shield cleanly cut through the box and mail shot up and fluttered in the air. As his shield ricocheted back into his hand, he took the time to check up on the rest of the team, which had split up to deal with all of the chaos. "How's everyone doing?"

"Well, I'm picking off some carnivorous hamsters. I always knew those things were evil." Clint commented from wherever he was perched. "I've got eyes on Hulk. He's currently having fun smashing up some cars that turned into a robot straight from Power Rangers."

"That was fairly anti-climatic." Natasha commented, before explaining further. "A beam from his gun came out of nowhere, but all it did was turn a streetlight into a patch of flowers."

"I am merely knocking out some Midgardians that were hit. Some apparently want my brains, while others want me to father their children." Thor reported, a bolt of lightning showing his position.

"Holy shit. Real live zombies? We are totally keeping one." Tony decided. "The fangirls can't come home with us though. They're scarier than the zombies. Although, with them, there's a chance that they weren't actually hit." Steve looked up to see him flying overhead.

"Iron Man," Steve sighed, by now knowing that any comment he made about how inappropriate that was would be ignored. "Do we have any other of these little experiments of his running around? Or have you at least gotten a lock on his position?"

"Well, Spangles, he's seems to have held off on shooting everything he comes across, so we only have to deal with what we already got. I have gotten a lock on his position, too, so let's wrap this up. Pepper wants me to show my face at some stupid board meeting this afternoon." Tony said, quickly rattling off the coordinates.

"All right. Iron Man, you and I will go deal with this guy. Everyone else, keep on cleaning up whatever he sends out." Steve ordered, hearing affirmatives from everyone but Tony. Uh-oh. That was bad news. "Iron Man, don't confront him until I get there."

"Right, Cap." Tony replied in that tone that said, "I am about to do exactly what you just told me not to do."

Steve quickly rushed over to the location Tony had given.

You see, if Tony saw a solution to a problem, he tended to launch himself right into it without discussing it or going over any other options with anyone else. It drove Steve crazy. How was he supposed to make a strategy if he didn't know all of the variables? Or if one of his teammates insisted on throwing himself in danger without even thinking about it?

It was at times like this that Steve wondered about Tony actually being a genius.

Sure, with his ability to create technology that would have existed only in Howard's dreams he was obviously a genius when building, creating, or making a way out of a sticky situation.

Then he would not call for back-up, would throw his life on the line for no decent reason, or nearly get himself killed.

Steve had realized that Tony's file was clearly wrong when he put his life on the line to save the Helicarrier and then flew a nuclear missile into a wormhole to save New York. Tony was a hero and with the way he was so willing to put his life in danger, there was no way that he was as self-centered as his file made him out to be. Steve had apologized as soon as he could, and, sure, Tony had teased him about it, but after everyone moved into Avengers' Tower, the two had gotten close.

He had made sure to stick with Tony when he and Pepper broke up. She simply couldn't handle the danger Tony put himself in, but the two had remained good friends. Still, Steve managed to stop Tony from drinking two much, convincing the genius to help Steve catch up with everything he had missed.

And soon, Steve had found himself falling in love.

Of course, he checked with Natasha, who he knew could keep her mouth shut about his feelings, that such relationships really were all right today. He had never cared about what the gender of people who were in love was, but the general thought when he was younger was that it was wrong. Despite her reassurances, Steve still made sure to keep his feelings secret from Tony. Who knew how the genius would react?

Steve had no intention of letting Tony get hurt unnecessarily though. Unfortunately, given his nature, there was a high probability.

Hence the rushing to Tony's location.

Over the comms, Steve suddenly heard Tony cursing.

"He fucking used it again!" Tony said. "The electronics store got hit and now it's like Attack of the Computers."

"Almost there." Steve rounded the corner, took a single look at the situation, and let his shield fly.

Similar to the mailbox Steve had fought earlier, it seemed that all of the appliances in the near-by electronics had gained sentience. Tony had cell phones and tablets biting at the edges of his suit that he was trying to brush off while simultaneously blasting at the TV's that were approaching with cables crackling with electricity. Somehow, some laptops and cameras were flying around like annoying birds and swooping in to try to bash in Tony's head.

Steve swiftly cut through the throng, throwing his shield to push back the televisions and crushing the smaller items with punches and kicks. The bit of trouble he had had when he first tried using these things was actually coming in handy, and it was all too easy to get rid of the things, but there were a lot of them.

Fairly soon, Steve was almost near Tony. His shield had just taken out the last TV, but it had gotten stuck and hadn't returned. Considering it was mostly just cell phones and cameras left, that didn't seem to be much of a problem. Over the comms, Steve heard the others say that they were coming over, since the sensors indicated that the guy was still in Tony and Steve's area and all of the other things hit by the ray gun had been neutralized.

That was when Steve caught something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look, he saw the Chaos Creator guy standing there, smirking. He was holding his giant ray gun in his hands, which kind of looked like the blaster from that Galaxy Quest movie, and it was clearly ready to fire.

Right at Tony.

Tony had his back turned towards the guy, so he had no clue about what was going on. There was no time to warn him and still give him time to get away. And Steve was not going to let him get hit, because there was no telling what it would do to Tony and there was no way he would let Tony get hurt.

He didn't even realize when he started moving, but once he did, he knew that this was the only way to make sure Tony stayed safe.

Steve launched himself at Tony, pushing him away and taking the blast himself.

Searing pain lanced through his body as the beam engulfed him. Luckily, he could also feel himself losing consciousness, so the pain wouldn't last too long. Distantly, he could hear Tony shouting his name and the others' voices coming through the comm.

Hopefully, he wouldn't end up a zombie like those other people. Then again, he had the supersoldier serum to protect him, so what was the worst that could happen?

His last thought before he lost consciousness was that he really hoped Tony was okay.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Ah._ _He resented my genius and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine, but he gave you everything. So, what made you so special?" – Red Skull_  
" _Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn." – Steve Rogers_

 _These things are really fucking annoying_. Tony thought as he was nearing the end of eliminating the pesky little electronics that had started attacking him the moment he got close to the villain of the day.

This was seriously not his day. First these things, then all of the Avengers would have to sit through a boring debriefing at SHIELD, and then he would probably still have to go to that stupid board meeting. Damn.

At least there were very few electronic terrors left. And he figured there was no way that this day could possibly get any worse than it was shaping up to be.

Tony was just asking to be jinxed.

As that last thought danced its way through his head, Tony felt something hit him with force of a speeding truck and saw a flash of light from the corner of his eye. He stumbled forward, but luckily didn't fall, and turned around to see what the hell had happened.

The sight that met his eyes immediately made the bottom of his stomach drop.

Tony had turned just in time to see Steve receive the blast from the latest crazy in his stead. And then he just dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Steve!" He was so focused on Steve that Tony almost didn't notice the villain curse and turn his aim towards him. However, he did spot him and managed to nail his gun with a repulsor blast as he hurried over towards his fallen friend.

The well-aimed blast knocked the gun from the guy's hand. That was enough, because at that moment, Hulk arrived at the scene. He took one look at the Captain. And then the Hulk did what he usually did when he was unhappy.

The poor villain didn't stand a chance.

Tony was ignoring all of that in favor of checking Steve's condition. "Cap's down." He informed the others in response to their shouts as he reached the fallen Captain.

Steve looked like he was losing consciousness as Tony picked him up. "Steve! Stay with me!" He shook him slightly and frowned at the stats that were appearing on his screen. "Hey! Steve!"

Steve's eyes rolled up in his head and his body went limp. That wasn't good. And Tony's scans showed even worse. Steve temperature was starting to climb, and there was no way any of them could predict what would happen because the ray wasn't exactly consistent in terms of results.

Tony started a bit as Natasha suddenly appeared at his side, reaching down to take Steve's pulse. "Unresponsive, elevated heartbeat…" She muttered to herself, noting the things that were wrong. She turned and looked Tony in the eye. "He needs to get to SHIELD Medical. Now."

"On it." Tony scooped Steve up and blasted up into the sky, JARVIS immediately setting the course for the Helicarrier.

Steve still lay in his arms, not having moved an inch since losing consciousness. Tony tried to put up a brave front even behind his mask, but inside he was flipping out.

"Hang on, Steve." He muttered to the blonde. "You were able to stick it out for 70 years in the ice, you can last the 10 minutes it takes to get to SHIELD."

The lack of response was uncanny. Surprisingly, Steve had quite the mouth on him. He could banter all day, exchanging witty quip with witty quip whether it was with Tony or the day's villain. It was one of the many things that proved that the muscles weren't the only reason he was their leader.

So, for Steve to be silent like this, it was just weird. Normally if Tony started carrying Steve like this, as in bridal style, then he'd be moaning about how he was _not_ some blushing bride so Tony could either put him down or carry him another way. Tony could almost hear him, but it was all in his head.

"Stark, you're cleared for landing. Barton and the others called ahead." Agent Hill's voice came over comm.

"Good." He hadn't even thought of that. Yet another reason why Steve was more qualified as leader, because he wouldn't forget that kind of stuff.

Unfortunately, with Steve down and out for the count, Tony was slotted as the second-in-command and he'd have to step up.

He quickly landed on the Helicarrier and was greeted by a whole team of medical professionals. JARVIS identified them as the same people who worked on Steve when he had been unfrozen and their background checks panned out.

Hey, a little paranoia never hurt anybody.

Tony helped the team get Steve situated on the gurney, ready to be wheeled into the medical center of the carrier.

That was when it happened.

Suddenly, Steve began to scream. His back arched off of the gurney as he gave out bloodcurdling sounds. For a second, Tony would have sworn that his heart stopped. Then he leapt into action. He had to hold Steve down as he writhed in pain, and the nurses scrambled to restrain him so he wouldn't cause more damage.

It was probably one of the worse things he had ever done. After all, he could remember being held down as pain washed over entire body and…

Still, they didn't slow down even a bit. By the time the nurses had the restraints fastened, Steve had stopped screaming and had fallen limp back on the gurney. Tony knew that it probably wouldn't last long.

Seriously, what the hell had that blast done?

"You can't come in, Mr. Stark."

Tony flinched a bit and was surprised to find himself and the gurney outside of the medical room that would examine Steve. The nurse gave an understanding smile as she gently tugged Tony's hand that was still on Steve's arm from when he had had to hold him down. Tony moved his hand quickly. "But – "

"We will do everything we can, Mr. Stark. We are the ones who looked after him when he was found after all." The nurse was still giving him that look as Steve disappeared behind the double doors. "Please wait here." With those final words, she too went through the doors.

Tony just stood there for a minute, at a loss for what to do. Since the moment that blast had hit Steve, he'd been running on adrenaline. Now though, as Steve had been wheeled out of sight, there was nothing more he could do. It was out of his hands now.

He turned away to put his suit away just as he heard Steve scream again.

Jesus Christ, those screams…

Tony reminded himself that there was nothing that he could do as he took off his suit on autopilot and sunk down into one of the chairs in the waiting room.

It was then that he realized that whatever was going on was his fault. If he had waited like Steve had said, this might not have happened.

It was his fault.

Tony didn't know how much time had passed before he found himself surrounded by his teammates. Bruce slumped into the chair next to him, dressed in a new set of clothes, while Clint sat on the other side of Bruce. Natasha remained standing, tension lining every movement. Thor also stood, his hand flexing since he had most likely been forced to leave the hammer outside of the medical wing.

"Did you get him?" Tony asked when no one seemed in the mood to start talking.

"He's been taken into SHIELD custody and the device has been sent to the labs." Natasha tersely said, obviously not happy with how things had turned out.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Still alive?" He was surprised considering that the Hulk had gone after him.

"Everyone convinced the Other Guy that he might be useful alive depending on how things turn out for Steve." Bruce replied dryly.

"Indeed." Thor said, though his tone implied that he had been all for helping Hulk exact punishment.

Tony huffed out a bit of a laugh, but that was the best he could do given the circumstances.

"Anything new?" Natasha's sharp eyes landed on the double doors that separated the waiting area from the treatment center.

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "No. They haven't even been out once since we got here." He noticed that his hands were shaking as he folded them in his lap. "They had to restrain him." He said quietly.

There was a tense silence.

"Shit." Clint summed the situation up.

No one could put it more elegantly, so silence fell upon the Avengers. Really, no one knew what to say as there was nothing new about the situation. It wasn't any of them that ended up breaking the silence.

"Where is he?" The normally unflappable Agent Coulson looked frazzled as he dashed into the waiting room. God only knew where he had to fly from as his team tended to end up all over the world, so the man was obviously upset not just from the incident but also from how long it took to get here.

"In there." Clint jerked his thumb in the direction of the emergency section.

"Status report?" Coulson began to pull himself together, becoming the stoic agent they all recognized.

"No word yet on what the blast has done." Natasha ran her fingers through her hair, but reported to Coulson purely out of habit.

Coulson's jaw clenched a bit and he ended up sitting in the seat on Tony's other side.

"Why are we sitting out here?" Tony asked suddenly. "It's not like the doctors will even tell us much." After all, Tony knew only too well how hard it was to get information from doctors when you weren't a family member due to the times Rhodey had been injured in combat.

"They'll tell us." Coulson said softly. "You and I are his medical proxies." Tony started and stared at the agent. After all, that was a lot of responsibility, and Steve had never mentioned it. Coulson looked over the other members of the team. "The rest of you are also listed as next of kin."

Everyone was looking at the agent. True, while they had managed to come together as a team and lived together at the Tower, they didn't know that Steve had come to regard them not only as friends, but also as family. Tony got the feeling that they would never replace the family that Steve had had with Bucky and the Howling Commandos, but he realized that Steve must think that they were just as good.

"He never told me." Tony could only respond. Coulson gave a small shrug, not knowing any other way to answer.

The group fell silent once more, their nerves obvious as they fell into their routines for waiting. They had already gone through this waiting before, but not really for Steve.

Steve was the careful one, the one with a plan. Sure, he took plenty of risks and blows, but the supersoldier serum generally made it so he didn't have to spend much time in Medical. Generally, Steve was the one who would check on and worry over the others.

This was just too surreal.

Eventually, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway and everyone looked up to see a doctor in a white lab coat walk through the double doors. They stood up immediately, anxious to hear the news.

The doctor looked over all of them. There were traces in his face that spoke of stress, and somehow Tony knew that there wasn't going to be much good news.

"Is he alive?" Tony asked before the doctor could say anything. After all, that was the most important thing. He needed to know how much guilt was riding on his shoulders from this latest incident.

The doctor blinked in surprise. "Of course."

A sigh of relief went through the room, and some of the stress left Tony's shoulders.

"However," the doctor went on, "there appears to have been some complications."

Jaws dropped as the doctor explained the situation. Tony felt his breath catch.

No way was this happening.


	3. Chapter 3

_James Bucky Barnes: Did it hurt?_  
_Steve Rogers: A little._  
_James Bucky Barnes: Is this permanent?_  
_Steve Rogers: So far._

Before he opened his eyes, Steve could tell what had happened. He recognized the weight in his chest, the ache in his bones. After all, he had been simply himself for a lot longer than he had been Captain America.

When he opened his eyes and saw the doctor's face, well, that had just confirmed it.

Steve was skinny, old Steve Rogers once more. The serum was gone.

 _Well, it was fun while it lasted I guess._ Steve thought as the doctor droned on and on about how they were analyzing the gun and its make-up and would do everything they could to restore him to his usual self.

They didn't realize that this _was_ his usual self.

At the time he had been given it, there had been a lot of unknowns about the serum. There were probably more things that were unknown about it today. No one had known whether the serum would even work, or if it would stick. As Steve had told Bucky while rescuing him from HYDRA's grasp, it had seemed permanent, but really, there had been no way to tell if it would last. Therefore, Steve had decided long ago to make the most of it while he had it, and when it was gone, well, it was gone. The science of it wasn't really his area and it's not like there was anything he could do about it, so he didn't really see the need to worry about it.

In all honesty, Steve was more worried about his team that what had happened to himself. "Is my team all right?" He asked when the doctor paused long enough to take a breath, which gave him an opening to talk.

The doctor looked at him in confusion and surprise. Steve wondered why that was. After all, whenever he had woken up in Medical in the past, he always asked about his team first. Why would that have changed?

"Your team is perfectly fine." The doctor finally answered.

"That's good." Steve said, a rush of relief coming over him with the knowledge that his friends were safe. Luckily, pushing Tony out of the way and taking the blast hadn't been for nothing. "When can I see them? After all, I feel fine." The doctor stared at him in disbelief. "Relatively speaking." Because, yeah, he didn't feel like the paragon of health, but it wasn't like he was in pain or anything.

"They'll be allowed to see you in a bit." The doctor seemed to realize that Steve didn't want constant reassurances. "You have several medical conditions, but due to modern medicine they can easily be handled. You'll also be receiving an inhaler that will help you manage the asthma." The doctor fidgeted a bit. "There is one more thing."

Steve frowned. There didn't seem to be anything more to address. He was normal again, his team was safe, and the criminal had been caught. So what else was there?

"Captain," the doctor hesitated, "even with modern medicine, your lungs…"

"Ah." Steve realized what he was trying to say.

Back then, none of the doctors could bring themselves to tell him. However, Steve had known his body all too well. He had gotten sick too many times, and several people who knew him had always said that it was a miracle for him to have grown as old as he had. Steve had known that he probably didn't have much time left, so he had had even more reason to try to do everything he could do to help while he could. Obviously, since he had returned to the state he was in before getting the serum, that condition would also return.

"Your lungs are failing." The doctor managed to say. "You probably only have maybe 6 months at most, and that's only if you don't push it."

Steve tried to give the doctor a reassuring smile. "I know. Thank you for telling me." After all, this doctor had courage that the ones back then didn't. They would say that they were saving him by keeping him out of the war, but what was really the point when he was going to die anyway?

A steely look came into the doctor's eyes. "As I said before though, Captain, we'll return you back to normal, so this won't be an issue." With that, the doctor turned to leave.

Steve stopped him though. "Wait." The doctor hovered at the door. "Don't tell the team about this." He paused. "Or Coulson. They don't need to worry about it."

The doctor recognized the order for what it was. "Yes, sir." He reluctantly agreed, and left Steve by himself.

Steve sighed and leaned back into the pillows. He could already feel himself getting tired. It would take him a bit to get used to being like this again. He could only imagine how his team would react.

With the exception of Thor, all of the others had heard about him, or at least Captain America, for as long as they had been alive. They had never seen or probably heard much about how he was before the serum other than the fact that he'd been small and sickly.

Steve was getting the feeling that they wouldn't react well.

Pretty soon, he heard the thumps of a group of people walking down the corridor. Steve tried to sit up and look presentable, though he figured that it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Hey, guys." Steve lifted his hand and gave a bit of a wave.

They were staring at him in shock. He decided to allow it, even though it was quite rude. After all, though they had probably heard about his condition, knowing something and seeing something with your own eyes were two completely different things.

They didn't really look like they were in the best condition either. There were some superficial cuts on both Natasha and Clint's faces and arms. Thor had some soot smudged on his face and hair, and naturally Bruce wore new clothes that were provided by SHIELD. There was an entire section of the budget devoted to providing clothing for the scientist after the Hulk came out.

Tony looked the worst. To be fair, Steve felt the most nervous about his reaction. It wasn't just because under normal circumstances Tony was out of his league, and now, with Steve back to "normal," they might as well be in different galaxies. Tony was also one of the few links Steve had to his past, and he had mentioned that he had grown up with Howard telling stories about him. Tony would have the best idea, besides Bruce who tried to replicate the experiment, of what was going on.

Also, Steve had ended up this way because he had pushed Tony out of the way. He knew it was all his own decision, but Tony had a history of blaming himself for anything and everything.

Tony was paler than normal, and when he saw Steve his fist clenched, his knuckles turning white. Even from here, Steve could see the guilt already swirling in his eyes.

The silence was getting a bit deafening. Steve got the feeling that his team wouldn't break it, so he finally spoke. "Do you know when I can get out of here?"

The entire group jumped, even Natasha. Steve knew that it must be disconcerting since his voice was exactly the same, despite his sudden size change. It was one of the weirder things to happen to them.

"Are you certain that is wise?" Thor asked, a frown crossing his face.

"Yeah, pretty sure you need to get checked out by the doctors… and stuff." Clint trailed off somewhat lamely.

Steve frowned at both of them. "They've already finished checking me out, and I'm fine. So there's really no reason to keep me here."

Tony flinched. "Fine?" A spark of slight anger burst into his eye. "You call this fine?" He gestured at Steve's entire body.

"Given the circumstances, yes." Steve deadpanned while raising an eyebrow. "So seriously, when can I get out of here?"

"As soon as they finish with your asthma medication, Captain." Coulson stepped into the room with his usual poise, but his pale complexion clued Steve into how worried he had been.

Tony turned on the agent. "You cannot be serious."

Coulson glared at him. "Technically, they don't have the grounds to hold him if he doesn't want to be here." He gritted his teeth a bit. "Believe me, I tried."

"Not you too?" Steve sighed, rubbing away the headache that was already beginning to form. "I told you, I'm fine."

"Alright." Bruce said. "I'll make sure they get that taken care of, and see if there's anything else I should have a heads-up on." Despite the fact he didn't have a medical degree, Bruce was the default medic of the team.

"Thank you, Bruce." Glad that he seemed to have at least one ally here, Steve gave Bruce a small smile.

Bruce returned the smile, though it wavered a bit. Luckily, he seemed to be recovering from the shock. Steve was grateful for that. Bruce turned and left the room.

"What? Bruce! Don't do that – " Tony tried to protest as Bruce left, then started to pout as he was ignored. "No one ever listens to me." He grumbled under his breath.

"We do listen to you sometimes, but there really is no reason for me to stay here." Steve pointed out.

"Yeah, well, what if something happens to you?" Tony snapped. Steve stopped himself from snapping back, knowing that it was just Tony's guilt and frustration causing this irritation. "How can we know that this is all that that thing caused? It's better for you to stay here and – "

"Enough." Steve couldn't take it anymore, despite trying to be patient. Immediately, everyone straightened a bit as he had used his so-called Captain voice. "There's not much they can do here right now as they've already taken all of the samples they need. I want to go home."

"Well…" Tony seemed a bit subdued and he fidgeted a bit. He clearly had no comeback.

"We just want to make sure everything's alright." Natasha finally spoke up, her voice a soothing balm.

"Everything is." Steve muttered and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"No, it's not." Tony insisted.

Before the two of them could go at it again, Bruce arrived with Steve's new inhaler. A glance around the room clearly told the scientist what had happened in his absence. "Everything's all set. We can go."

"Good." Steve sat up and grabbed the shoes that had been brought for him. Someone had thought to change him in regular clothes while he was unconscious, so he was basically all ready to leave. It was as he stood up that how much he had changed really seemed to hit the others.

"Jesus Christ." Clint gasped, his jaw falling open a bit. "You're tiny."

Steve couldn't help scowling at him, and it deepened as he realized that he was now shorter than Tony. "No kidding." He tried to brush it off.

At that moment, the doctor walked in with a wheelchair.

"No." Steve said. "Absolutely not." He glared at the wheelchair.

The Avengers nervously glanced between the doctor and their leader.

"Perhaps you should, Steven." Thor suggested, though he began to fidget underneath Steve's glare.

"It's standard procedure." The doctor said weakly.

"And yet I've seen Clint and Natasha walk out of here on their own with broken limbs. And Tony walk out with blood seeping out of bandages, because he _has_ to get home to repair his suit." Steve held his head high as he walked past the doctor and proceeded out of Medical. He could hear his team following behind him.

He had the feeling that what had just happened was the start of a trend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yes, Steve is a good guy, kind and polite. However, he is also a stubborn, sassy bad*ss who could kick butt, or at least try to, when he was only 90 pounds and about 5 feet tall. He's also practical and since his personality didn't really change when he got supersized, I assumed his personality wouldn't change if he went back to "normal." He wouldn't bemoan his lost muscles; he'd accept it, move on, and do what he can in whatever time he had left. This is what I'm trying to portray him as. Of course, this is just the beginning of his troubles, so sit tight!


	4. Chapter 4

_4F Doctor: Sorry, son._  
_Steve Rogers: Look, just give me a chance._  
_4F Doctor: You'd be ineligible on your asthma alone._  
_Steve Rogers: Is there anything you can do?_  
_4F Doctor: I'm doing it. I'm saving your life._

Tony could barely bring himself to look at Steve. He had seen a few pictures before, mostly from his dad's old stuff, but none of that had even begun to prepare him for this. Then again, he never would have thought that something like this was possible.

The blast from that thing had completely reversed the serum. There wasn't a single trace of it in Steve's blood despite how much the scientists were searching for it.

And now Steve… well, as Clint had put it, he was tiny. He was shorter than Tony. Normally, having someone on the team who was shorter than him would have been a cause for Tony to break out the booze and celebrate, but there was no way he could do that. He had never wanted for something like this to happen.

And it was all Tony's fault.

Sure, Steve had made the choice to tackle Tony out of the way, but he shouldn't have had to do that. If Tony had actually been paying attention to his surroundings… If Tony had waited like Steve had told him to…

If, if, if. It wouldn't change anything now. Steve was back to his pre-serum self, and there was currently nothing that could be done about it.

It was enough for Tony to scream, and Steve really wasn't helping the matter.

Sure, Steve was no longer doing the workouts that he normally did, but otherwise, he was acting like everything was normal. He got up and made everyone breakfast, though he ate only a fraction of what he normally did. He sketched in the living room and on the balcony. He read in the library. He watched TV and shouted at the umpires when baseball was on. He went out into the city on walks.

What he wasn't doing was coming into the lab to draw, read, or talk to Tony. Although, on the other hand, Tony had restricted his access so he couldn't come in, so it wasn't Steve's fault. It was Tony's once more.

However, Tony found that he couldn't help it. There were dozens of things in his lab that had the potential to hurt Steve. Normally, he didn't worry about it; after all, he was a supersoldier and didn't break so easily. Now though, Steve looked frail enough that a breeze would knock him over and take him out. So there was no way that Tony was letting him in the lab.

Actually, if Tony had his way, Steve wouldn't be leaving the tower at all. He knew the others agreed with him, as both Thor, Clint, and Natasha had tried to stop him from going out. Every single time, Steve would straighten, give them that stern, piercing look, and then said with his Captain voice that he was going out and that if they tried to stop him then God help them.

Whoever was trying to stop him would swiftly get out of his way.

It wasn't fair that with everything else, Steve got to keep his Captain voice. And stubbornness. And sheer bull-headed tenacity that meant that no one was going to stop him from doing what he wanted.

As much as Tony usually loved him for these things, right now Steve was making him want to pound his head against the nearest wall.

Bruce kept telling him that he and the others were overreacting. Tony didn't know how Bruce could be so blasé about all of this after the initial shock. He almost sounded sensible.

Still, Tony had not been around for any of these attempts. Instead he had been holed up in the lab, along with Bruce, trying to figure out how to fix this.

It wasn't like he was hiding from Steve.

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He glanced again over the notes that he had found among his dad's things that were written by Erskine and the schematics for the gun that had started this whole mess.

This was his fault so he had to fix it. He really wasn't hiding from Steve. After all, what could a 90-pound asthmatic do to him?

"Sir." JARVIS's voice filtered down from on high.

"What, J?" Tony almost growled, scanning over the screens trying to find the reason for this happening.

"Captain Rogers has felt the need to have me tell you that you have been down here for 72 hours, and if you do not eat or sleep soon, he will have Dr. Banner or Miss Potts drag you out." The AI paused. "And if it comes to that, the lab will be locked down for 24 hours."

Tony's jaw dropped as he listened. "He can't do that!" He pounded his fist on the workbench. "Doesn't he get I'm doing this to help him?"

"At this moment, he is more concerned for your immediate survival since he is as healthy as can be expected at the moment. And I agree." JARVIS continued, worry leaking through his voice.

Tony gripped the edge of the table. He was caught and he knew it, especially if JARVIS was taking Steve's side. "Fine." He grumbled. He started to shut down the screens. "Look over what we've got so far and see if you can cross-reference any possibilities regarding the wearing off of the serum and the potential effects." He wasn't going to have all of this break time be for nothing.

"Of course, Sir." JARVIS already sounded happier.

Tony glared up at the ceiling even as he left the lab, and then he got into the elevator to go to the common floor.

Tony had taken several considerations when he had rebuilt his tower. Each Avenger had his or her own floor and in the middle of them, he had built a communal floor with a kitchen, gym, library, and living room. Each floor had the necessities as well if a particular team member wanted to cook and eat by themselves, but this was an area where they could actually come together as a team. It was also, for the most part, where all of them hung out.

It wasn't until he stepped into the kitchen, which showed just how tired he was, that the thought of Steve being there occurred to him. And that was only due to the fact that Steve was there, cooking.

Steve looked up at where Tony was frozen in the doorway. "He lives." He said dryly, before turning back to what looked to be spaghetti sauce. Considering that there were noodles in an adjacent pot, it wasn't too far fetched.

"Hi, uh, Steve. I was just going to, uh," Tony honestly couldn't remember the last time he had felt so tongue-tied. Maybe when he had woken after falling from the Chitauri portal.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Quite the articulate one."

Tony groaned. He really could not deal with Steve's sass at the moment.

Steve looked back at Tony, and for a moment, an expression that Tony had never seen before crossed his face. It unsettled Tony and he couldn't place the emotion behind it. "Sit down, Tony. Supper will be ready in a couple of minutes." Steve said that as he bent down and pulled open the oven a fraction in order to check on the garlic bread.

"Right." Tony said, narrowing his eyes at the obvious dodge. Still, Steve continued to watch the food, and Tony sank down into one of the seats at the table and just watched him.

It still unnerved Tony to see him like this. He was smaller, but now that Tony looked at him closely, he seemed to have a scrappy kind of strength. His face was the same, along with his voice, so mainly the difference between Steve as he was now and the normal Steve was the height and muscles.

Although a distant part of Tony's mind pointed out that there was some appeal in this version, Tony pushed that back. After all, this still was not the normal Steve and such thoughts would not be entertained until Tony fixed this.

Tony vaguely realized that he was staring at Steve and a voice that sounded like Pepper was telling him that that was rude. He took a glance around the kitchen, surprised that no one else had come yet.

"Where is everyone?"

Steve glanced up, surprised. "They're on their way. Natasha and Thor were venting on each other in the gym, so they'll get in here once they're done in the showers. Clint was sulking in the vents because Coulson told him that he couldn't interrogate the whack-job who made that gun. Bruce went to collect some of his old notes on the serum from SHIELD who managed to get them back from where Ross had stored them." He shrugged. "So, they're around."

"Heh." Tony gave a chuckle that held no humor as he thought about how there should have been someone watching Steve. "I'm surprised they left you alone."

"Oh, they all think that someone else is watching me." Steve said nonchalantly, but Tony could see the smirk twitching at his lips. He stared at him in shock. Steve was so nice and polite that Tony sometimes forgot what a devious little bastard he could be.

"You lied?" Tony knew that Steve could be a little schemer, but as Natasha had pointed out many a time, he sucked at lying.

"Not really." Steve glanced at the ceiling. "JARVIS always keeps an eye on us."

"Naturally, Captain." JARVIS replied, and Steve grinned up at him. Tony looked from Steve to the ceiling in slight horror.

He had to fix this. Not only were JARVIS and Steve teaming up against him, but JARVIS was also enabling Steve. That could not bode well.

Before Tony could yell at JARVIS or something, the vent on the far wall popped open and Clint tumbled out. "Sweet! Spaghetti." Clint made his way over to the stove, but Steve whacked his hand away from the sauce. "Hey!" He rubbed it a bit.

"I don't think we all want your germs, Clint." Steve said, and he went over to get some oven mitts for the bread.

Natasha appeared and picked them up before he could grab them though. "I'll take care of the bread, Steve." She also grabbed the cutting board and kitchen knife. Within moments, the bread was cut and on the table.

"Thanks." Steve said, and he turned to grab the sauce, but Tony was pleased as Thor came in and took it instead.

"I shall take this over to the table, Steven." Thor's loud voice boomed as he picked up the pot without bothering to grab mitts. After all, the god played with much hotter things.

"Thank you." Steve said, but his voice was rapidly losing the traces of humor it had had while he had been talking to Tony.

"And I've got this!" Clint was dumping the noodles into the strainer.

"You're all being so helpful, especially in the past few days." Steve's voice was flat. "Wonder why that is."

The others ignored him as they finished setting up the food on the table. Since he had been shut up in the lab, Tony wondered if this is what had been happening at every meal since Steve's transformation. Given the annoyed expression on Steve's face and the twitching of his fingers, Tony assumed that that hypothesis was correct.

"You know, I won't break or anything just by picking up a pot of food and taking it to the table." Steve said as he took his normal spot next to Tony. The genius stiffened a bit and scooted over away from Steve a bit. He ignored the hurt look on Steve's face when he noticed.

After all, Steve probably didn't want to sit next to the cause of this mess anyway.

"Leave them be, Steve." Bruce walked into the room and glanced over the papers that he had in his hand. He set them on the counter and sat on Tony's other side. "They won't admit it, but they're just a bunch of mother hens."

"I resent that." Clint stated as he put food on his plate. He continued as the other served themselves, "I am a freaking hawk. I have more class than a simple hen."

"You're a birdbrain either way." Natasha commented.

"Steven, we are simply attempting to look after you while you are in this state." Thor said, looking a touch regretful. Tony hoped that didn't mean he would stop. After all, the way he saw it Steve needed all of the mother-henning possible.

"I did manage to survive a little over two decades like this." Steve still sounded annoyed. "Jeez, you guys are worse than Bucky."

Clint pointed his fork at Steve. "I will take that as a compliment."

Steve sighed, and just continued eating. "So how was your sparring match?" He finally asked, obviously trying to draw attention away from the situation.

Natasha and Thor let him do it, and the conversation became what it normally would be. Tony sat back and observed it, not feeling up to joining in. And he steadily ignored the fact that Steve kept glancing at him.

Besides Steve, everything was basically like normal.

Which of course, was when the alert sounded.

Tony had never come awake so quickly. He sat up. "What's up, J?"

"It would appear that HYDRA has unleashed some experimental robots within the city, Sir." JARVIS replied as the others began to get up from the table. "The Avengers have been asked to deal with them."

"Okay, got it." Tony was about to leave when he noticed Steve was also getting up. "WHOA! What are you doing?" His hand pushed him back into his chair. It stunned Tony for a moment, because normally he wouldn't even be able to make Steve sway back.

"They've called the Avengers. I'm coming, too." Steve made to get back up.

"No." Tony vehemently replied. "You are in no condition to go out there."

"Excuse me?" Steve's jaw twitched and he glared up at Tony.

"You can't even fling your shield like this. We can't be worrying about you. That's why you have to stay here and stay safe." The words were rushing out of Tony's mouth before he could stop them. He wasn't even really noticing what he was saying or the fact that his voice was getting louder. All he knew was that he had to get Steve to stay here where he wouldn't get hurt. "Sorry, but like this, it's simply not enough, Cap."

Steve flinched, and there was genuine hurt in his eyes. As what he ran through what he had said, Tony's stomach dropped and turned to ice.

He had basically just told Steve the same thing that he had been told his entire life before the serum. Tony jerked away, and he wished he could take it all back. It was too late though.

"Just stay here." Tony turned away and made his way to his suit, knowing that the others would be in the Quinjet. He started running through how he could deal with the robots, since with Cap here, he would have to take the reins.

He didn't notice the way that Steve clenched his jaw, and the steely determination that entered his eyes. If he had been there, Bucky Barnes could have told him that things never ended well when Steve got that look.

Luckily for Tony and the Avengers, Bucky wasn't there to tell them that.


	5. Chapter 5

_"That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run away from a fight, I'm following him." - James "Bucky" Barnes_

Steve struggled for a moment to reign in his anger and hurt.

What Tony had said hurt, he couldn't deny it. It wasn't like what Tony had said was new. He had heard it all of his life. After all, even after he had gotten the serum, he had heard similar sentiments. The clincher here though was the fact that _Tony_ had said it.

Steve knew that Tony was just trying to protect him and that when the genius was worried he said things he didn't mean, but that wasn't really helping. Tony was clearly uncomfortable with the situation with the way he had been avoiding him, and that hurt too. After all, it wasn't like Steve was suddenly a different person.

All of the Avengers, except Bruce who had been fairly neutral about it, had been hovering ever since the incident. He was starting to get fed up with it.

Also, the enemy this time was HYDRA. The fact that they were still around made him angry and he wanted to beat them all back. After all, they were supposed to have been finished the moment he went into the ice. It just showed how things were never really over. Still, Steve wouldn't be able to do anything if he was wallowing in his own feelings.

Steve watched as Tony walked away. He knew that Tony would take point as he usually did when Steve was out of commission.

The thing was that Steve wasn't really out of commission.

"JARVIS?" He asked tentatively. After all, being Tony's AI, he didn't know how far he would go to help him.

"Yes, Captain?" The reply came immediately.

"Would you help me observe what's going on? If I can see what's going on, then I can help."

There was a pause as JARVIS debated Steve's request. "Captain, I have noticed that when you lead missions, there is a higher probability of success."

"Is that a yes?" He asked.

There was another pause. "Please step into the elevator, Captain. I believe I know how to assist you."

With a slight smile, Steve made his way to the elevator and fidgeted a bit as it went to the place JARVIS had in mind. Steve stepped out and then hesitated a moment.

"This is Tony's lab." He pointed out.

"Indeed."

"Won't he get angry about me being in here when he is not? Besides, he's locked me out." Steve had discovered that when he had first tried to check on Tony in the aftermath of the shooting. However, Tony had blocked all of his override codes and was clearly avoiding him. Due to the circumstances, Steve didn't want to make Tony even more upset.

"I dropped the blocks on your user account the moment Sir acquiesced to your ultimatum. Also, as Sir's holograms are the most advanced in the building, I can best assist you from in here." JARVIS replied. "If Sir makes an issue of it, I shall make sure that you are blameless, Captain."

"Uh, thanks, but you don't have to do that." Steve huffed out a breath, somewhat glad to have JARVIS as an ally, especially when it came to Tony's health and safety. "After all, I was the one who asked you for help."

"Thank you, Captain." JARVIS responded as Steve stepped into the lab. Immediately, the room came alive as JARVIS stowed away the holograms for Tony's projects and instead brought up what Steve needed.

"Wow," he gazed about at what JARVIS had created. No matter what Steve encountered in this new century, JARVIS was probably the thing that impressed him the most beside the Iron Man armor, and the AI had done it once again. Before him was a 3D model of the city, though as he watched it changed so that it was just area that was being affected by the robots. Live camera footage popped up, showing different angles of the surrounding streets.

Steve hadn't even taken a step out of the Tower, but thanks to JARVIS, he now had a view of the entire situation.

"Thank you, JARVIS." Steve told him with a smile crossing his face. "This is perfect."

"Of course," JARVIS sound a bit smug. "I will also include footage from Sir's suit once he has reaches the field."

"All right." Steve nodded, his eyes tracing over the images.

There actually weren't many robots; well, at least there wasn't an army of them. Still, they were large and weird enough that the police didn't want to deal with them. Just looking at them, he wondered what made them think that they were from HYDRA, as it seemed like something more up AIM's alley. Then he recognized the guns and the symbol on their side.

The guns looked exactly like the HYDRA contraband that Steve had found on the Helicarrier.

Steve's jaw clenched, and he could feel himself being to breathe harder in anger. He quickly calmed himself down, but that familiar tickle had already started in the back of his throat. Thanking the future for its medical innovations, he took a quick puff from his inhaler. He almost didn't notice the sound of approaching wheels.

Steve turned and found Dummy rolling up to him, a comm unit within his grasp. He smiled at the robot.

"Thanks," he placed it in his ear. As JARVIS plugged him in, the voices of his teammates trickled in.

"Okay," Tony was saying, "so we've got about a few dozen robots coming up here. Any suggestions before Brucie goes green?"

"Well, there is a perfect vantage point for Hawkeye that's adjacent to the new Apple building. It'll give you some eyes from up high, and he will be able to shoot for their vulnerable spots." Steve lightly touched the indicated building, checking its angles in order to confirm its advantages. "Yeah. Speaking of vulnerabilities, JARVIS, do we have an analysis on these things yet?"

There was an awkward pause.

"Steve." Tony's voice came out tightly. "What are you doing on the comms?"

"Consulting." With a wave of his hand, Steve adjusted the perspective of the streets. "You're always saying that it's better to have multiple minds working on a solution."

"Maybe. But aren't you on medical leave? And I told you to stay." Tony was clearly angry but Steve found that he didn't care at the moment.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." Steve snapped back. "If your suit hasn't told you already, I'm still in the Tower."

"Then, how are you seeing any of this?" Clint asked as on Steve could see on the live footage of the Quinjet dropping him off on the building he had indicated. A small part of him warmed at the knowledge that they still trusted his judgment.

"I asked JARVIS if there was anyway I could assist and watch the fight. He set me up." Steve answered as footage from the Iron Man armor began to pop up. He looked at the schematics and readings that popped up from the monitor. He glanced over them for weak points.

"What?!" Tony's indignant cry came over the comm. "JARVIS, you traitor!"

"Not his fault." Steve said dryly, now looking over the positioning of the bots. "So, it seems that these things aren't able to fly. That means that the fighting will be on the ground. Iron Man should stick to the skies and neutralize anything they might shoot while keeping an eye out for reinforcements. After all, who knows what sorts of tricks HYDRA has up its sleeves? Also, from that position, he can take out anything that is missed, and start taking them out from the North.

"Thor and Black Widow should stick together, coming from the East. With the hammer, Thor can take them out in the long range and Widow can use her bites after ducking under their guard." Steve checked the readings that JARVIS had brought up. "These things have quite a bit of fire power, but they're not particularly fast so that shouldn't be too hard. That is, if I'm reading this right, Iron Man?"

"Yes." Tony ground out.

"Okay." Steve nodded though no one except JARVIS and the bots would see it. "Then, Hulk can smash through them from the West. He can meet Thor and Widow in the center and they can take out whatever is left. Hawkeye can watch everyone's backs and pick them off. Also, his arrows can help corral them so we can keep them in only this area.

"Any objections or further ideas?" He asked, just to check. Steve thought that he had covered everything, but they were all professionals so their expertise was essential. Also, as they were on the scene and he wasn't, they could probably spot any problems quicker than he could.

"I don't see any problems with it." Clint said.

"I think that covers everything." Natasha agreed.

"Iron Man?" Steve asked. After all, with him back here, Tony was technically the leader out in the field. If he didn't like it, changing the plan was within his rights.

Tony's sigh rang down the comm unit. "That works. What he said. But, Steve," his voice hardened. "We will be talking about this when we get home."

"Code names while on comms." Steve reminded him with a grin. The smile widened as he heard Tony's unintelligible grumbles come down the line. "Have you figured out their vulnerabilities?" He asked.

"Yeah," And Steve could see the info that Tony was bringing up in his suit in real time. "These things have a similar design to these drones I fought a while back, though they're not as advanced. Which is saying something since those things were Hammer tech." Steve could almost imagine the shudder Tony was giving. More footage popped up, showing the Avengers beginning to engage the robots.

"Anyway," Tony continued, "The joints of the limbs and necks are weak; you can stab through them. Also, the central core is in their chests so you can aim for that, too." Tony shot several mini missiles, taking out several blasts aimed at the near-by office buildings.

Hulk roared as Steve saw him smashing down robots in a wave. The shots that they were giving out seemed to be having no effect on him.

A wry smile twitched at Steve's lips. The Hulk was able to guard against a lot more than physical blows unlike Steve. He wondered if the laser that had striped the serum from him would have had any affect on the Hulk. It was a question to talk to Bruce about later.

"Or you can just smash the entire thing." Tony commented, bringing Steve's mind back to the battle.

They didn't need any help at the moment, all within their own element, so it gave Steve a chance to just step back and watch. He normally couldn't do it as he usually battled beside them, but it was fascinating to see.

Thor looked every inch the ancient warrior. His long hair swung in the small gale created in the wake of him throwing his hammer. Steve could see the electricity sparking in the air as Mjolnir returned to his hand and he swung it into the nearest robot's gun, annihilating it.

Natasha danced around Thor's bulky form. While the hammer was out of his hand, she covered his back with shots from her gun. Then, she would duck and weave around the robots, embedding her bites into their knees and making them fall right into the path of Thor's hammer. Her graceful movements made the robots seem slow and lumbering in comparison.

There was also something amazing about the way the Hulk moved too. Steve could actually see those muscles rippling as a meaty fist easily crushed a robot. While Natasha's movements spoke of grace and quickness, the Hulk's movements spoke of pure power. Despite the fact that he was triggered by anger, it was hard to think that Bruce had been entirely mistaken in creating the Hulk.

Meanwhile, Clint was showing off his own skills. To use what most would consider to be an archaic weapon on the modern battlefield showed how innovative he could be. He also was picking off targets, arrows sprouting from the neck and joints. On the video, Steve couldn't see it, but he knew that Clint's eyes were darting all over the battlefield, taking in information and making sure that his teammates were safe.

Finally, there was Tony. The armor was amazing as it always was, but it was Tony that brought life to it. The suit was all hard lines and angles, but he managed to make it seem life like as he blasted away at the robots, his repulsors shooting potential threats out of the sky. There was almost a rhythm to the way he moved. Through the footage directly from the suit, Steve could see that Tony was simultaneously looking over schematics for more ways to take these things down, his mind moving faster than his machines.

Looking at his teammates, and in his current form, Steve felt slightly lost, as he had no clue how he had managed to gain a team of such skilled and wonderful people. After all, he was just the scrawny stubborn kid from Brooklyn who had managed to get a lucky break.

And seeing Tony battling like this reminded Steve of all of the reasons that he loved Tony, even if he was mad at him for what happened earlier.

A flicker of movement caught his eye from around the corner where the fight was taking place. Right in Clint's blind spot, a new robot was rising, and it was sleeker and more deadly looking than all of the other ones. The others also hadn't noticed it yet as the fighting was just winding down.

"Iron Man! Around the corner at 10 o'clock!" Steve called into the comm just as the thing aimed its larger blaster right at him.

Tony spun around, and managed shoot his repulsors, meeting the blast halfway. The two forces pushed against each other in a deadly, light-filled tug-of-war. Tony grunted from the effort of maintaining the repulsor blast, and for a moment, Steve felt his heart stutter at the thought that he might lose.

Luckily, the Hulk intervened, coming up from behind the machine and crushing it in his embrace. With the pressure off, Tony easily deflected the blast. For a moment, everyone stood where they were as the smoke from the smoldering remains of the robots began to clear. JARVIS detected no other entities, so the fight was over.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He hated that this was all he could do to help, but it was better than nothing.

"Uh, Steve?" Tony's voice filtered through the comm, causing Steve to blink.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, thanks." Tony said awkwardly. The genius generally had as hard a time thanking people as he did saying sorry.

"You're welcome." Steve replied.

"We're still going to talk about this." He sternly commanded.

That sting from earlier came back with a vengeance. The satisfaction from a battle ending with no major injuries faded.

"I don't know." Steve deadpanned. "It's seems like this was enough."

Before Tony could reply, he removed the comm from his ear and handed it to Dummy. As he left the lab and told JARVIS his thanks, Steve could see the holograms flicker and shut down.

Within moments, it was like he had never stepped foot in there.


	6. Chapter 6

_Peggy Carter: You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?_  
_Steve Rogers: I think this is the longest conversation I've had with one. Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on._

Tony often forgot how young Steve actually was. He may have been born during the Roaring 20's, but he was actually young if you didn't count the years he took a nap in the ice.

After all, just looking at him normally made one think that he belonged on a college campus, but Steve acted a lot older than he looked. He was one of the more mature members of the team, even as he sassed back in the face of terrible odds. He had been to war and was often stoic, showing few, if any, signs of pain. It didn't help that he was still catching up on pop culture, so references went right over his head. Luckily for him, he had picked up the history and technology that he needed in this computer-run world.

At the moment though, Tony could clearly see how young Steve was, and he seemed younger than that. His smaller stature and thin frame made him look like a freaking teenager.

Steve was not helping that image as he sat with his arms crossed on the couch, looking like a teen that had been caught sneaking in after curfew and was not going to take his parents' nagging.

"Steve…" Tony started.

"Yes?" He replied. Tony could see that he had that look on his face. It was the expression that said that Steve was going to stick by what he did and no one was going tell him that what he did was wrong.

That expression was a lot more amusing when it was directed at Fury rather than him.

"I told you not to get involved. Due to your condition, I'm the temporary leader. You disobeyed my order. Aren't you the one who's always harping about how we have to follow orders or someone could get hurt?" Tony felt a slight thrill of glee at being able to turn Steve's words around at him.

"I didn't disobey." A slight smirk twisted Steve's lips. "You told me I couldn't go out. I never stepped a foot out of the Tower."

"Yeah, about that." Tony glared at nothing in particular. "What is this about you and JARVIS always teaming up behind my back?"

Steve frowned. "What are you talking about? We don't always team up behind your back."

"Ah-ha!" Tony pointed at him. "Not true. First, you plot to get me out of the lab. Then, he apparently lets you in the lab to help fight despite the fact you're on medical leave. It's a conspiracy."

Steve gave him a flat look. "Oh no, JARVIS. He's discovered our terrible plan: we care for him."

"Indeed, Captain." JARVIS replied. "Whatever shall we do?"

Tony glared at both of them, which considering that one did not have a body was hard to do. "I did not program such sass in you."

"Are you quite sure?" JARVIS continued in that semi-teasing tone. "Who else could have done it?"

"Shut up; I'm mad at you." That was the only thing that Tony could think to say. He turned back to the matter at hand. "Steve."

Steve looked up at him. From this angle, looking down at him, he looked smaller than ever and Tony quickly brushed aside the guilt over his part in this predicament.

"Steve," he said again. "I'm glad for your help. Really I am." He quickly said in response to Steve's skeptical eyebrow. "But this sort of sneaking around, making JARVIS help you." A sigh escaped. "It's the kind of stuff that you always get angry about when I or the others do it."

"Not quite." Steve retorted, a frown crossing his face. "I get mad when you go off on your own and you end up getting hurt because of it." He cut off Tony's reply. "I did not do that. I was perfectly safe here in the Tower, and I contributed."

To Tony's surprise, Steve stood up and walked over. Despite the fact that he was about a head taller than Steve, he was surprised that it felt like he was being looked in the eye. Steve's concerned expression was not helping matters.

"What is this really about Tony?" He asked gently, any defensiveness from earlier gone.

Multiple thoughts raced through Tony's head. _This is my fault. You shouldn't_ have _to be benched. Like this you can easily get hurt. I need to protect you._ They layered upon each other until they were just one heap of a mess of thoughts.

What came out of his mouth was this: "You just can't act like things are normal, Steve, especially in your condition."

Tony saw Steve stiffen. "Especially in my condition?" He parroted back, a bit of sharpness in his voice.

"Right." Tony continued, and he had a horrible feeling that his mouth was going to run away from him again, but he couldn't stop it. "You're vulnerable, and until Bruce and I find a way to fix it, you need to lay low. You may be trying to act like things are just fine and normal like I said, but – "

"This _is_ normal." Steve interrupted, his eyes ice cold.

It took a moment for Tony's brain to register that. After all, generally, Steve was too polite to interrupt like that. "What?"

"This," he gestured at himself, "is normal."

"No." Tony adamantly said. He also gestured at Steve's state. "This is not normal. Normal you stands almost as tall as Thor."

"I've spent a majority of my life like this." Steve crossed his arms. "This is normal. Me being," his hand indicated being a lot bigger, "that's all Captain America." He then placed his hand over his chest. "This is me."

"No, it's not." Tony insisted. Still, prickles started to crawl up his arm. This was going to be bad. "Bruce and I will fix this."

Steve was no longer glaring at him, but the hurt that had filled his eyes was not a comfort. "So there's something wrong with me. Like this."

Tony flinched as he ran through their conversation. He could see how Steve would come to that conclusion. "Steve, wait, I – "

He really wanted to say that he hadn't meant it that way. That he still cared for Steve the way he usually did and that it didn't matter if he was scrawny or had muscles.

But he couldn't. Because this was his fault, and even if Steve didn't see it that way, he had to fix this. He had to make things right.

But was it worth seeing Steve so insecure about himself?

He didn't know.

"It's fine, Tony." Steve looked away. Tony hated seeing him like this, as Steve seemed to get even younger as he brought his walls up. "I get it."

"Steve!" Tony didn't know what more he could say without digging himself into a bigger hole, but it was too late as Steve left the room. For a moment, all Tony could do was stand there in the middle of the living room. "Shit." He ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes, trying to see a way out of this.

"Smooth."

Tony jumped and his eyes flew open to see that Clint was now lounging on the couch where Steve had been sitting just minutes ago.

"Jesus Christ." Tony found himself subconsciously bringing up a hand to the arc reactor. He fixed a glare at the archer. "Don't do that. I have a heart condition."

"Uh huh." Clint ignored his comment, looking off where Steve had gone. "Great job dealing with Steve. Stellar."

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "Cut the sarcasm, Clint." He ran his fingers through his hair again. "I screwed up, didn't I?" He asked more softly.

"I would say you did." Clint said nonchalantly. He picked up the remote and turned the TV on. "You know that sometimes, even when he was his usual self as we know him, he still thinks of himself like this. And you managed to hit him right where it hurts, especially given your earlier argument."

"Why am I not surprised you were listening?" Tony asked more to himself as he sank into the closest armchair. He pressed his hands into his eyes. He was exhausted. The genius had already been up for a few days, but the battle and the latest argument with Steve had drained whatever was left. "Where was Natasha during all this? Normally, you're thick as thieves." He cracked an eye open to look at Clint.

"She's gone to do some damage control with Steve." Clint replied, flipping through channels.

"Dammit." Tony muttered. He was going to have to watch his back. After all, Natasha was fond of Steve.

"You know," Clint drawled out as he finally settled on one of those supernatural shows he liked, "you really have no clue how to talk to people."

Tony scowled at him. "I know how to talk to people. I talk to people all of the time." He waved a hand at the TV. "Have you seen how many press conferences I've done? How many charities and parties I've attended?" He snorted. "I know how to talk to people."

"Not quite." Clint replied. "You know how to schmooze people. You can announce things, Mr. 'I-Am-Iron-Man.' You can talk science. But," he finally looked at the genius, "people you're close to, people you care about, people who can see the real you?" He raised an eyebrow. "You have a tough time talking to them.

For a moment, Tony was stunned. Never had someone seen him so clearly and told him things about himself in such a matter-of-fact manner. Then again, this was Hawkeye aka Clint Barton. It was his job to notice things, and despite his love of pranks, he was also one of the down-to-earth members of the team with Bruce and Steve.

"Got me there." Tony practically sighed. He was too tired to be defensive like he would usually get. He looked out the window listlessly. "What should I do?"

"I know you're freaking out right now. We all are." Clint admitted. "But give Steve some space right now until you've calmed down. At this rate, you're only going to dig yourself in a bigger hole."

"Yeah, might as well concentrate on fixing this." Tony muttered. This chair was actually starting to feel pretty comfortable.

"Also, might want to drop that kind of language." Clint said. "After all, we're not machines, we're humans. Sometimes there are things that can't just be fixed and it's kind of insulting to talk like we can be fixed willy-nilly."

"Yeah, sure." He shut his eyes.

Tony heard a huff of amusement from Clint's direction and started a bit as the afghan from the couch fell on him with a soft thump.

"Get some sleep, you mad scientist." Clint said. "Maybe you and Steve can kiss and make up in the morning."

As Tony fell asleep, he knew that the moment he woke up he would be back in his lab with Bruce, trying to find a solution for Steve.

After all, once Tony had fixed Steve, then he could fix things between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Seriously, Steve's not the only one who has issues with communication. Still, I liked the quote I chose for this chapter because it really highlights how people often have trouble talking to people that they like. I do think that Tony is kind of fixated on solving issues regardless of who around him might be affected or who might accidentally get hurt in the process. This has been seen time and again in both the Iron Man and Avengers movies. *cough* Ultron *cough*


	7. Chapter 7

_Red Skull: You don't give up, do you?_  
_Steve Rogers: Nope._

It had been almost two weeks since the last time Steve had seen Tony.

It wasn't as though Steve hadn't been trying to see him, but Tony had taken all sorts of precautions to avoid him whether he was in the lab or not. It didn't help that Steve was banned from the lab even if Tony wasn't in there.

Though Steve could admit that he was glad that Bruce was making Tony take breaks to eat and sleep.

After their argument, Natasha had come after Steve. He realized that that meant that she had probably heard every word of their conversation. And if she had heard it, then Clint had probably been right next to her. He couldn't be mad at them though, since this sort of behavior was only to be expected when one lived with a superspy and assassin.

"Tony's an idiot," were the first words out of her mouth.

Steve had sighed. After all, he didn't need her to tell him that. "I know."

"And he thinks you getting hit was his fault." She continued easily matching his pace as he walked to the library.

"Yeah, Tony and guilt is not a good mix." Steve agreed. He had seen that often enough when one of Tony's inventions did not protect someone on the team the way he had intended it to.

"So, he's just lashing out because he has the emotional control of a five-year old." Natasha concluded as they entered the library.

"I know." Steve sighed again, picking up the 5th Harry Potter book from where he had left it next to his armchair earlier that day. "Intellectually, I know that. But," he shrugged, "it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I know." Natasha settled into the adjacent armchair. "But then again, you're the one who fell in love with him."

Steve couldn't help giving a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, seems I have a thing for dark haired people who could kick my butt and are out of my league."

It was Natasha's turn to sigh. "I wouldn't say that he's out of your league."

"Maybe with the serum, but now?" He sent a look over at Natasha. "He's not the only one who's been treating me differently."

He thought he saw a flash of guilt cross Natasha's normally impassive face. She sighed again. "You have to understand things from our perspective, Steve." She looked off into the distance. "We're not used to seeing you so… vulnerable looking."

"So?" Steve didn't take his eyes off her. "I told you that I'm used to being like this. It's normal."

"For you." Natasha turned to face him. "With the exception of Thor though, we all grew up hearing stories about you, seeing the news reels. Even where I was trained," she paused the way she usually did when the Red Room was brought up, "we studied you.

"And in all of those stories and news reels, you're Captain America. Tall, strong, the peak of human physique. That is who we knew and that's what we found normal. We heard all about Captain America," a wry smile twisted her lips, "but not much about Steve Rogers, the stubborn, 90 pound asthmatic who was the brains behind the Captain."

"Oh." Steve had not really thought about it like that. He knew that his reputation and legacy had been blown out of proportion as the years went by, but it never occurred to him that to most people, he was simply Cap with the gifts of the serum. He really should have realized that as most people, especially at SHIELD, referred to him as Captain instead of Steve.

"However," Natasha continued with a more genuine smile, "I've found that I've enjoyed getting to know Steve and I like him better than Captain America."

Steve returned the smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She shrugged as if it was no big thing. "I guess I'll tell the others to try to lay off of you a bit. Should have known better than to try to force help on a guy who applied to the army five times despite the state of his body."

"Thanks. Personally, I'm glad that Bruce has been the sensible one from the beginning."

"Well, he does have a unique perspective due to the Other Guy." Natasha admitted. She leaned back in her chair. "So about the Tony situation, going to give up?" She asked casually.

Steve grinned. "Ever known me to back down?"

The two had shared a laugh and Steve was pleased to see Clint and Thor back off a bit. He could still see them itching to help him, even if it wasn't necessary, but they respected his decisions. They did take over cooking or another task when an asthma attack hit him though and Steve let them have that.

On the bright side, Thor had congratulated Steve on his abilities of a tactician even if he wasn't on the battlefield. Nothing boosts the confidence like a compliment from a guy who was born before even your great-great-grandparents existed.

Still, Steve had forgotten how stubborn Tony could also be. The genius had become well versed in the art of avoidance as he had dodged Pepper and deadlines for years. He had thrown himself into research regarding the mystery gun and the supersoldier serum. Bruce was trying to rein him in, but trying to stop Tony when he was in full-blown obsession mode was nearly impossible. The only one who could really pull him out of it was Steve, and Tony wouldn't let him get anywhere near him.

Steve sighed as he placed the final pencil strokes on his sketch. He was sitting out on the balcony off of the living room. He liked the view and it was relaxing on days when he wanted to get away from all of the strangeness of the future he had found himself in.

"Steven?" Thor stepped out next to him.

Steve turned to face him. "Hey, Thor."

The god looked a bit nervous. Steve frowned, as it was uncharacteristic of the boisterous and confident man. "We have been called out to battle once more. I've been asked to convey this to you as Anthony has disabled your phone's abilities to receive what he termed 'distress calls' while in this state."

Steve glared at his phone. Of course, Tony would do something like that.

"I personally do not see fault in having you assist from here," Thor's voice and stance began to return to its normal state, "however, the decision lies with Anthony."

Steve smiled up at the thunder god. "Thanks for letting me know." He then continued nonchalantly. "Can I know what you're facing at least?"

"Indeed." Thor relaxed as if he had expected Steve to put up a fight. "It appears that more mechanical foes such as we faced a fortnight ago have appeared once more."

Steve nodded. "Okay. I want all of you to play it safe out there."

Thor grinned. "Naturally, Captain." He gave a quick wave as he lifted Mjolnir and left to join the others.

Steve gave a wave back. Then, he got up from the chair, put his sketchbook away, and had JARVIS take him to the roof.

Just because Tony wouldn't let him in the lab didn't mean that he hadn't made arrangements to still help.

"Hello, Agent May." Steve greeted the surly agent from where she sat in the pilot's seat of her Quinjet. "Thanks for the ride."

"Don't mention it." She replied. "Really. Coulson wouldn't be happy if he found out that I was helping his hero sneak around while he's supposed to be on medical leave."

"I would think that he would be disappointed if I didn't at least try." Steve said as he strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat.

"Hmm." May hummed in agreement. "Anyway, he thinks that I'm stopping for surveillance reasons before heading to the Helicarrier, so let's keep this under wraps."

"Gotcha. I'll never mention your name." Steve smiled a bit. Melinda May was strict, but she genuinely cared for Coulson so he liked her.

Before long, Steve was stepping out onto the landing strip of the Helicarrier. With a final nod at May, he walked through the door and down the hall as if he had every right to be there. He ignored the stares that he was greeted with, as many of them saw for the first time how Steve really was. He could feel the prickling of anxiety start to form in his stomach, but he continued onward.

After all, even if he couldn't be by their side, he would still do anything to help his team. He had already lost one family because he wasn't there; he wasn't going to let that happen again.

Steve walked onto the main bridge and he glanced at the screens, seeing the battle playing out in real time. He couldn't help but think that Tony and JARVIS's set-up was a lot more advanced and cooler looking, but that was usually the case when it came to the genius's tech.

"All going well, sir?" He asked as he stepped next to Fury, who was also observing the fight.

"I'm surprised Stark hasn't tied you to a bed yet." Fury replied, taking a moment to glance at Steve.

He chuckled. "If he would stop ignoring me, he probably would. I can't help but wonder why he hasn't had one of the others do it yet."

"Hmm." Fury shrugged, turning his attention back to the screens before them. "It's playing out much like the battle did a few weeks ago. Easy."

Steve frowned. That didn't seem like HYDRA's modus operandi. He watched the screens and could see Fury's point. The robots looked exactly the same and they still moved without the refinement that he knew these sorts of drones could have. There were no signs of any bots like the one that had risen towards the end of that fight either. That one had actually seemed competent.

Tony had the team in a similar formation as they had the other week, easily changing it as new observations came to him through JARVIS. Together, they were easily taking down the drones as they had already fought them before. While normally they would remain semi-professional on comms, Steve could hear that they weren't really worried as Clint, Tony, and Thor discussed what they could eat for supper. His finger itched to press the microphone and order them to keep it professional and keep their heads in the fight.

It was weird. The entire situation was weird. Why would they send out robots in the exact same manner without even trying to improve them? Why not have more robots like the one that had managed to go toe to toe with a direct repulsor blast? Also, why have the robots approach the Avengers in the exact same way when that had proved to be inefficient?

Steve felt anxiety start to build up, but not due to the way people were staring at him. Something was wrong, and he could feel himself tense up as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

It took a few minutes before he noticed it. When they had battled these things before, he had instructed the others to corral the robots by coming from different directions, so that whatever was left would be in a centralized location where they could easily be picked off. However, slowly but surely, this time it was the Avengers who were being herded together. With the exception of Tony who was in the air, since Hawkeye's perch had been destroyed, forcing him to the ground, the others were being pressed together so that they were fighting back to back. It was usually a great way to fight larger numbers when well executed, but this wasn't by the team's intentional design.

Then, Steve saw it and he felt his eyes widen.

He lurched past Fury, slamming his hand on the comm button too hard. "It's a trap! You hear me? Get out of there!"

"What? Steve?!" Tony managed to shout.

Too late.

Up from the ground burst six of the sleeker, deadlier model that they had encountered before. There wasn't much chance to retaliate as Hulk, Thor, Clint, and Natasha were hit with what looked like tranquilizer darts. One by one they slumped to the ground, though it took quite a few to take down Thor and Hulk. As their bodies fell, they were scooped by these new robots, which took off from the ground and started to fly away.

This would normally be the part where Tony would swoop in and save everyone, but he had enough problems of his own. Two of the robots ganged up on him, shooting at him with their blasters. Tony's curses trickled through the comm as he met their attacks with defensive repulsor blasts. He was paying so much attention to these new foes that he didn't notice one of the older models coming up behind him.

"Tony! Watch out!" Steve shouted into the comm, but the older robot managed to slap something onto the Iron Man armor.

Steve watched in horror as something sparked and fizzled, as the suit seemed to short out and fall limp. His only consolation was that the arc reactor still shone from Tony's chest. He was silent as the robot picked him up as well and followed their compatriots. Fairly soon, the only signs that a battle had taken place were the destroyed bots and scorched roads and buildings.

Distantly, Steve heard Fury yelling orders at the scrambling SHIELD agents, demanding that jets get into the air, that tracking should be started immediately, but he knew that it was useless.

They were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm not quite sure I got May down right. She's a complicated character, but I still love her. Still, the drama is building. We're getting closer to the main villain of this story. Did Tony really think that being banned from the lab would stop him? He's Captain America, but more importantly, he's Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers doesn't just give up.


	8. Chapter 8

_"I can do this all day." - Steve Rogers_

Consciousness washed over Tony slowly. It was a slow trickle starting with him becoming aware of the aches and pains that permeated all the way down to his bones. Then, he realized that he wasn't wearing his suit and his arms were being held over his head.

_Oh, goody._ The thought crossed his mind. _I've been captured._

Next came the memories of _how_ he had been captured. And the thought that his teammates had been captured with him prompted him to finally open his eyes.

The first thing Tony noticed was that he was in some sort of cell with metal bars at the front and cement making up the other three walls, ceiling and floor. He was chained, actually chained like an old-fashioned horror movie, to the wall. The interesting thing about the chains though was that the cuffs and links appeared seamless, while the chains disappeared into a hole in the wall well above him.

He looked over and noticed a cell across from him holding Thor and Clint. While Tony was across from his door, the two were adjacent to it on opposite walls. Clint was chained up the same way Tony was, but Thor had something extra. An IV line came down to his arm, probably pumping something into the god's veins to prevent him from causing too much trouble.

Tony couldn't see Natasha or Bruce anywhere, but he assumed that they were in a similar state, with Bruce hooked up to something like Thor to prevent the Hulk from crashing this party.

Unfortunately, this was all that Tony could figure out at the moment. Without the suit or any other tools, it was unlikely that he would be able to escape by himself much less with the others. There weren't any other clues to tell him why they had been taken, though it was probably HYDRA's fault as their symbol had been on those robots.

He remembered those last few moments before the suit shorted out and a blow through the helmet knocked him out. Somehow, Steve had managed to finagle his way into observing the fight, which means that he had probably seen everything. JARVIS had noted that it was coming from the SHIELD line so that explained how he had gotten around the forbidden lab zone.

Steve had sounded panicked. It wasn't something that he sounded like often as their leader normally, even in most recent circumstances, managed to keep a cool head in most situations. Unless someone had been pushing his buttons, Steve was probably the most levelheaded.

Tony felt a twinge of guilt over that. After all, he should have noticed that it was a trap; the whole situation had stunk of it and it would have only been more obvious if Admiral Ackbar had shown up and shouted, "It's a trap!"

By the way, had Steve even seen _Star Wars_? He couldn't remember.

And that random train of thought informed Tony that he probably had a concussion or something.

Things were just looking better and better.

First things first, Tony decided, were to check the state of the teammates he could see.

"Psst!" He hissed. "Hey, Clint!" Tony wished he had some convenient pebbles to throw at the archer, but there were none to be seen. Though it's not like he could really throw anything while in this compromising position.

"Psst!" He stage-whispered again. "And you call yourself a superspy? You're an insult to your profession!"

He was rewarded with a groan. Clint's head rolled up and his eyelids fluttered. "Jesus Christ." He muttered. "Someone get Tony his morning coffee."

Tony grinned. "Welcome back to the land of the living." He said as Clint opened his eyes and looked around. The archer narrowed his eyes as he took in the setting.

"Shit." Clint eloquently summed up the situation. He was good at that, Tony had noticed.

"Basically: yeah." Tony confirmed as the archer winced. He really did not want to know what kind of drugs was used on the others, but it probably did not leave a pleasant hangover. "Can you see Natasha or Bruce?" He continued.

"Yeah. I can kind of see them in the cell next to you."

"Good. So at least we're all here." Tony took some slight comfort in that.

"Except for Steve." Clint helpfully pointed out.

"Except for Steve. Let's hope it stays that way." Tony said.

A soft snort came from the wall to Tony's right. "I doubt it will." Natasha retorted.

"Natasha," Tony sighed, "can't you try to be optimistic for once in your life?"

"Optimism is for children." She stated dryly. Tony could hear a slight rattling noise as she tested her chains. "Tony, have you got a clue about these chains?"

"Well," Tony dragged himself to his feet, swaying a bit, as he stood upright. As he straightened, he could see the chain shorten and disappear into the wall, making sure that he couldn't move away from it. "Interesting." He muttered before he looked back down to the chains. What he saw confirmed what he had noticed earlier. "No seams, no keyholes. Must be shut by either an electric method or, god forbid, magic." He rolled his eyes. "I can't pick it, and this shortened chain means I can't try breaking it against the wall. Not enough leverage." He explained to Clint who had also gotten to his feet and given him a quizzical look.

"Great." Clint sarcastically said.

A low groan came from next door, indicating that Bruce was probably waking up, and Tony was glad to see that Thor was also stirring.

"What happened?" Bruce's voice sounded slurred.

_That's probably not good._ Tony thought.

"We've been captured by HYDRA." Natasha calmly explained to him. "Are you alright?"

"Oh." There was a snuffling sound. "They've got me on the good drugs."

"Yeah." Clint agreed as the thunder god opened his eyes. "I'm guessing that means that Big Green's not going to be making an appearance."

"Nope." Bruce was sounding kind of loopy as he popped the "p" in nope. He really was on the good stuff.

"How come you don't use something like this normally?" Tony asked randomly.

"Experimented before. Not good in the long run." Bruce stiltedly explained. "Makes it hard to think."

"How about you, Thor? Can you help provide some muscles?" Tony asked him, though he was blinking rapidly.

"I feel like I have been trampled by a herd of bilgesnipes." Thor winced.

"I've had that hangover, too." Tony quipped. Clint snickered but he could practically feel Natasha's unimpressed look.

Clint turned to the god across from him. "So, no dice?"

"I am afraid not, my friends." He winced again. "My head is clouded as it was when I was first taken to one of your hospitals on my first trip to Midgard. I do not believe I can stand."

"Great." It was Tony's turn to be sarcastic. Then again, things were not looking good. "Hey, Clint, Natasha, you're the superspies. See any way to shimmy out of here?"

"Not unless we get unchained." Natasha said.

"Also, anyone else notice that the doors to these cells don't have keyholes either?" Clint continued. "The whole system is probably opened and closed electronically."

All of them fell silent in the wake of that revelation. Tony tried to examine the chains more closely to see if there were any weaknesses. He was a genius after all. He had made his first Iron Man suit out of scraps of metal in a cave. He could figure out a way to get the team out of this.

"Why did they capture us?" Thor asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Tony was brought out of his contemplation.

"Good point." Bruce commented.

"Yeah," Clint's forehead furrowed as he thought about the situation. "They could have easily killed us by now. But they've just put us in cells."

"They haven't even tried to study the Hulk or anything." Natasha pointed out. "Most want to get their hands on him to replicate the effects, but instead they're suppressing him."

"You all are right." Tony conceded. "So is this a ransoming or something?"

"Or something." A voice echoed down the hall. As the group startled, a hearty, dangerous chuckle followed the voice.

"So you're the guy running this show?" Tony recovered first.

"Indeed." There was a clink of footfalls and then their opponent revealed himself.

Tony couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Clint followed him, while Bruce and Thor were too out of it to appreciate the humor. Natasha was rolling her eyes, Tony knew it.

The man before them was tall. He seemed to be wearing a pinkish, purplish skin suit as a bottom layer, with there only being holes for his eyes. The next layer was a jacket, a darker purple in color with a wide collar that was ringed with white, black-spotted fur and had honest-to-god puff sleeves. He had bright yellow gloves and boots, with the boots having that same fur lining at the top. The man also had a golden belt and a golden cornet on his head. A holster also hung off of his belt, with a large black gun hanging in it while a sheathed sword on the other side matched it.

Besides the gun and sword though, Tony couldn't help but laughing at his appearance. Seriously, puff sleeves!

The stranger sighed. "I was told you had a peculiar sense of humor. I never knew it was so childish."

"So." Clint had calmed down enough to ask questions. Tony was only starting to get there so he was kind of grateful. "Like you said, this isn't for ransom, since in all seriousness, Tony's the only one of us who has money worth ransoming."

"Ah." Now that Tony had stopped laughing, he noticed the German accent that their captor had. "How rude of me." He gave a bow. "My name is Baron Helmut Zemo. I am a scientist and strategist for this branch of HYDRA." Baron Zemo straightened. "I would normally say that I am pleased to meet you, but in this case, I am sure that the sentiment is not returned."

"No kidding." Bruce weakly said.

"Anyway," Tony took the lead, "if this isn't for ransom, what is it for?"

"It is quite simple actually." Zemo waved a hand to emphasize his point. "Revenge."

Tony frowned and saw Clint and Thor reflect the expression. Natasha and Bruce probably were frowning, too. "Revenge?" Tony repeated out loud. "What did we do to you?"

"Nothing." The Baron seemed to delight in keeping them in the dark.

Tony's frown deepened. He had a bad feeling about this. "Then why the grudge?"

Zemo held up a hand to aristocratically inspect his fingers. "My quarrel lies not with you." He said. "But with your Captain."

Ice filled Tony's veins. "What?"

"You are merely bait." The Baron continued, ignoring Tony's question. "I originally sent out my robots to capture him, but he did not show up to the fight." He tilted his head. "Most curious. However, when I sent them out once more, I made arrangements for you to be captured in case he did not show up again."

"Your target has been Cap this whole time?" Natasha asked. Tony noticed that she had slipped into code names. He could understand as it helped keep the mood less personal.

"Yes." Tony could sense that Zemo was smirking under the suit. "It matters not where the Captain has been these past few weeks. Once he hears that his precious teammates have been captured, he will scour the Earth until he finds you. And then he will walk right into my trap."

Tony snorted despite the fear beginning to bubble up in his stomach. "He's smarter than that. He won't come."

"Really?" Zemo stared at Tony and walked right up to the bars of his cell. "This was the man who disobeyed orders and crept behind enemy lines on the slim chance that he could find and rescue his best friend. He ended up saving the entire unit."

The icy fear spread, and Tony struggled not to let it show. This guy had Steve pegged. After all, what he was saying was completely true.

Zemo looked around at all of them. "You are his teammates. He would easily do the same for you." Then, he turned back to Tony and leaned in. "And I have seen the way he looks at you, Tony Stark. If nothing else, he will come for you."

Tony frowned at him. Why would he be singled out? Sure, he and Steve had become best friends, but that wasn't especially a reason. And what did he mean, "the way he looks at you?" Steve looked at him like any normal person did. With the way they had been at odds lately though, which Tony would admit was mostly his fault, it's not like the guy had been looking at him at all.

Still, what Zemo had said was true. It didn't matter what the obstacle was, Steve would surely come for them.

Even though Tony really wished that he wouldn't.

The Baron chuckled once more as he leaned back. "Enjoy your stay." He said almost cheerfully as he walked back down the corridor.

As soon as he was out of hearing range, Clint once more summed up what they were all thinking. "Shit. Steve's coming for us, isn't he?"

He probably was. And Tony could only hope that in the state the little guy was in, it wouldn't kill him.

Tony didn't need that on his conscious as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: When I started this story, I didn't know who the villain would be. I just decided that they would get captured by HYDRA, and then I realized Steve would need someone to fight. I thought about several different people, but quite a few had already been portrayed in the MCU and I wasn't sure how I could make them fit in. BTW, turns out that there are a lot of people associated with HYDRA at one point of another. Then, I stumbled upon Baron Zemo, and I was like, "He's PERFECT!" I know he's appeared in some of the Avengers cartoons, but I've never really seen those. Still, he fit the role as he was smart, strong, and had a reason to hate Steve. Actually, looking at my basic outline I had, the latter part of this fic was exceedingly vague, but I'll mention that more in upcoming notes.
> 
> Sorry about gushing like this but I don't really have anyone to talk about writing fanfiction with.


	9. Chapter 9

_"You don't win wars with niceness, doctor. You win wars with guts." - Col. Phillips_

"Excuse me?" Steve raised an eyebrow at Coulson and Fury. "You have no clues as to where they are and you want to shut me out?"

The two agents actually looked uncomfortable despite the fact that they towered over Steve. They were standing in the living room of Avengers Tower, where SHIELD had forced Steve to return to in the aftermath of the abduction.

"Captain." Coulson said respectfully. "This was obviously an orchestrated attack on the Avengers. We can't have you taken, too."

"Who knows HYDRA better than me?" Steve argued. "Besides, you expect me to sit back while my friends and teammates are in danger?"

Steve kind of admired the way that these men were able to stand up to him. Coulson only betrayed a slight trace of anxiety, while Fury was as statue like as ever.

"The point is that we have a handle on it, Captain." Fury finally said. "You are to remain here until the Avengers are located."

"And then I can assist with the rescue, correct?"

Fury's expression hardened. "You seem to forget, Captain, that you are on mandated medical leave. So, no, you will not be assisting with the rescue."

"But – " Steve protested.

"Sorry, Cap." Coulson said with a repentant smile. He gave a nod as both he and Fury left.

Steve let out a growl of frustration. He was stuck here, practically useless, while his teammates were God knows where. The longer they waited, the less chances there would be of them being found. He knew that SHIELD could probably handle it, but he hated this.

He breathed out a calming sigh as he flopped onto the couch. It was no use getting worked up over at this point.

"Captain?" JARVIS asked, slightly nervous sounding.

"Yes, JARVIS?" Steve responded, looking up.

"I am receiving an encoded message, Captain. It is being sent directly to the Tower." JARVIS switched over to the feed he was getting, a Morse code message.

"Can you tell me what it's saying?" Steve frowned as he listened to the dots and dashes. He understood Morse code well, as any soldier from his time did, but having JARVIS translate it would be a lot faster. Given the timing of the message, it probably had to do with his friends' kidnapping, so time was of the essence.

"Indeed, Captain." JARVIS replied. "It says, 'Monkey, Stop. Snake, Wave, Stop. Shield, Hand, Rope, Stop. Door, Storm, X, Stop. Monkey, Stop.' There are also several numbers interspersed at random. Then, it repeats the loop starting with another monkey." He paused. "Captain?"

Steve sat up straight, eyes wide. "I recognize that code." He said softly.

"Indeed?"

"Yes." Steve stood up and started pacing. "This is undoubtedly the work of whoever took the others. That was a code that the Howling Commandoes and I used for a few missions. It was simple and to the point so we called it the Monkey code. However, due to this, it didn't take long for HYDRA to crack it, but we had been using it while we developed a more complicated code so it was fine. Not many people would know it though."

"What does it mean?" JARVIS asked.

"The monkey is just the word that indicates the message's start and end as well as the code needed." Steve explained. "The first sentence basically means, 'Hello from HYDRA.' HYDRA's the snake. I'm the shield. That sentence means, 'Captain America's comrades have been captured.' The final one means, 'Come get them or death will happen.'" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Most likely, their deaths would be the result."

"The invitation is nice, but it does not tell us much." JARVIS dryly said.

"Put together the numbers throughout the message." Steve ordered. "That'll give you your coordinates."

"Thank you." It only took JARVIS moments to put together the data. "Coordinates indicate a small secluded island off of Canada's Atlantic coast. It is owned by a German businessman named Helmut Zemo. It seems to be a research facility of some sort."

Steve frowned. "That sounds vaguely familiar."

"Unfortunately, it appears that a background check on him is yielding nothing." JARVIS apologized.

Steve gave him a small smile. "Thanks for trying." He turned his mind over to strategy. "Can you get me a visual? Any idea about the islands' building plans?"

"Yes, Captain." The images of the island and the floor plans of its only building came up on the TV screen. "The island contains a single compound, guarded by some top of the line security. It isn't Stark-made though, so it shouldn't be too difficult to take out." He seemed to give a dismissive sniff at it. Steve smiled at the amount of pride JARVIS had in his creator's work. He shared the same disdain for other companies.

"Likely area of where they could be?" Steve said while studying the plans of the compound.

"There are several subterranean levels. Considering that there is a distinct lack of information regarding the third level and its purpose, I would hypothesize that that is where Sir and the other Avengers are being kept."

"Got it." Steve said quietly, almost to himself. Plans flashed through his mind, some easily discarded, and fairly soon a viable tactic to get Tony and the others back began to coalesce in his imagination.

"Shall I forward this information to SHIELD, Captain?" JARVIS asked, but his tone made it clear that he already had an inkling of what Steve's response would be.

"Not yet." Steve stood up from the couch and used the elevator to reach his floor. "I'm going to go in by myself first and find them."

A hint of concern crept into JARVIS's voice. "With all due respect, Captain, this is not like the time I assisted by providing holograms. With the condition of your body, this will surely strain it, and I fear that the exertion this mission would require will not help your lungs."

Steve paused, as he put on the standard SHIELD mission uniform since he would never fit into his regular suit. "You know about that?" He asked finally, resuming his task.

"It was placed within your file, Captain." JARVIS said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The lungs are the biggest concern as marked by the doctors, but there are also issues concerning your heart and stamina. My primary task is to see to the health and safety of all residents of the Tower."

"Thanks for keeping it quiet." Steve said. He finished getting dressed by placing a comm in his ear. "But that message made it clear that only I'm supposed to come. I can handle all of it, my heart, lungs, stamina, whatever. After all, I've managed it for years. Besides, you'll be with me."

Steve looked at his shield, which was leaning against the wall. With only a moment's hesitation, he picked it up. It was still as light as ever despite its bulky and weighty appearance. He could still use it to bash people, and in a pinch, he might be able to get in one good throw. Still, Steve also picked up his gun and added its holster to his belt. A little caution, as he had learned long ago, never hurt.

"Be that as it may, Captain." JARVIS spoke up while he strapped the shield to his back. "I do not like the idea of you going in alone."

"Once I've located Tony and the others," Steve walked to the elevator, this time headed for the roof, "I want you to inform SHIELD about the location. No point in calling them if they aren't there. After all, this could easily be a bluff. If they are, then they can act as an extraction team."

There was a moment of silence as the elevator reached the roof. Steve entered the Quinjet that had been returned to the Tower and strapped himself in. Quickly, he went through the take-off protocols.

"This is most likely a trap, Captain." JARVIS's voice was quiet in his ear. "You are clearly the real target."

That was obvious. Why else would they send a Morse code message that was secondly encoded with something that was used only for a short time in World War II? Yet, Steve knew he couldn't back out of this.

"Wouldn't be the first time I walked into a trap with both eyes open." Steve commented. "And this is already going better than the last time I tried to rescue someone all by myself. After all, I know the plans of the compound, I've got you, and people who will surely give us a ride back." The Quinjet took off, and he headed for the coordinates. "Don't worry, JARVIS. We'll get them all back."

"But at what cost, Captain?" JARVIS asked.

Steve didn't say anything back, and before too long, he was bringing the Quinjet down under the cover of the forest surrounding the compound. Whoever this Zemo guy was, he was probably expecting him, but that didn't mean he had to make it easy to be spotted. After setting the locking protocols, Steve slipped out of the Quinjet and headed for the building.

"JARVIS?" He asked into the comm.

There was a slight pause, before JARVIS answered. "Security systems are under my control, Captain."

"Alright." Steve gave a nod despite the fact that no one could see him. He crept towards the fence and was suddenly thankful for his smaller size as he shimmied under the fence, able to get through the space without having to cut any of the wires.

He quickly jogged over to the hulking building, hiding in its shadow. He looked around to make sure no one had spotted him. Steve edged along the wall, making his way towards the service entrance at the back.

"How many guards?" He whispered.

"Two." JARVIS relayed.

Steve had reached the door. "Open on my signal." He ordered.

JARVIS made a small noise of agreement. Steve took a moment to lean against the wall and take a deep breath. He shut his eyes momentarily. He may be putting on a good front and it was true he had done this sort of thing before, but he had never done it while he was like this. Therefore, he took a moment to center himself.

Steve opened his eyes. "Now."

The door slid open and before the guards could react, Steve kicked the one hard in the shin. The guard fell and stunned himself as his head hit the floor just as Steve slammed his shield upward, catching the second guard right in the face. The second guard's eyes rolled up and tumbled to the floor, unconscious. Steve whirled around just as the first guy started to come to his senses and opened his mouth. Another hit with his shield had the guy joining his buddy in La La Land.

Steve stood there, breathing heavily and hearing his heart beat pound unevenly in his ears. Just that little bit had tired him out somewhat, but he had still managed to take both of the guards out. He was somewhat surprised as he used to have trouble taking out bullies who ganged up on him even on his best days. Still, he squared his shoulders and picked up one of the passes that the guards had on their belts. One never knew when those would come in handy.

The badge had the HYDRA symbol on it, so this was definitely the right place.

Still, Steve closed his eyes again, the old mantra that he had followed ever since he was a child coming back. _Keep calm and breathe._ He took as deep a breath as he could manage. People had always commented on his ability to keep his head, but when panic does nothing but make it harder to breath, then it is more of a survival skill than a special skill.

Remembering the floor plans JARVIS had shown him, he went down the hallway to his left. There was only one elevator that gave access to the lower levels of the building, so that was his goal. Steve made his way down the hallway as quickly as he dared, both to avoid detection and to accommodate the way his heart kept occasionally skipping a beat.

Before long, he was passing glass windows that showed a laboratory. Steve peeked in, and noticed a long line of the robots, the competent ones, being created. He squared his jaw at the sight. This was further proof that this Zemo guy was working for HYDRA, or at least was using their symbol to draw him out.

His eyes picked up a few workers dotted here and there, and up ahead of him was a door leading into the lab. A new plan formed in his mind, and he couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"A little distraction can go a long way." He muttered to JARVIS, and before the AI could protest, Steve entered the lab.

The people who were working were too distracted to notice as Steve snuck his way over to what looked like a control panel. He slid behind it and studied the controls.

"May I suggest pulling the lever to your right and hitting the green and orange buttons, Captain?" JARVIS prodded in his ears, having already analyzed the panel.

"I'll trust your judgment." Steve said as he took his advice.

The results were instantaneous. One of the welding machines reared up, flame spurting everywhere and creating molten patterns all over its robot. Several of the platforms holding up the bots collapsed, and machinery and robots broke as the hard surfaces collided.

Red alarms began to sound and the workers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They were desperately trying to figure out what was going wrong. Steve pressed one more, figuring its use based off of what others things he pressed, and another few bots were released, though the result was slightly different. They fell onto other structures and pretty soon there was a domino effect going. In the end, not a single robot was standing.

Steve couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he slunk back into the hall, ignoring the shouts that echoed in the lab. _That should keep them busy for a while_. He thought. _And it means we won't have to fight those things to get out_.

Steve continued his way down the hall, ducking into side doors as more and more men and women made their way to deal with his disaster. The result was that no one was at the elevator when he finally found it.

The guard's pass quickly opened it, and it also allowed him entry to the lower levels once he was inside. With the swift press of a button, Steve was on the final part of his journey to his friends and Tony.

He ignored the way it was getting harder to breath. He ignored the fact that he was tired enough lay down and sleep for two days. He ignored the feeling of his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest.

Steve was going to save his friends, even if it killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I think it killed Coulson to have to tell his hero to stand down. However, he was on medical leave...
> 
> I didn't know exactly how I would have Steve find the others. Then, it occurred to me that Zemo wanted revenge and he's a HYDRA a-hole that's overconfident enough to send an invitation. The code was something I came up with on the fly though. After all, we wouldn't want SHIELD to know what's going on from the get-go. Want to figure out what each code word means exactly? Send me your guesses and I'll tell you how close you are. Thanks for sticking with me this far.


	10. Chapter 10

_"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from." - Steve Rogers_

Tony was going to murder Clint.

"68 bottles of beer on the wall, 68 bottles of beer ~ " Clint sang. "Take one down, pass it around. 67 bottles of beer on the wall."

He was singing what had to be one of the most annoying songs in the world. The only thing preventing Tony from strangling Clint was the fact his hands were chained up and they were in separate cells.

Natasha might help him though once they got out of this.

"Would you shut up?" Natasha's exasperated voice cut through the air, and thankfully Clint stopped singing. "It's annoying."

"I'm bored." Clint sighed. "You have to admit, Nat, even if we're captured by baddies and they're torturing us or something, that's more interesting than being stuck in a cell and chained up with nothing to do."

"New way to torture someone?" Bruce's suggestion floated through, and the scientist was sounding more with it than he had in the past however many hours they had been here.

"I don't think it's new." Tony commented. "After all, isn't that the basis behind solitary confinement?"

"Why are we talking about torture again?" Clint frowned at how the subject had somehow turned to this. Tony just thanked whatever deity there might exist that the archer wasn't singing.

"Who knows?" He responded to Clint's question. Tony sighed though. "This really is boring though. Why can't that Zemo guy come back and gloat about his evil plan or something?"

"Why would he do that?" Thor asked quizzically, though his eyes were still a bit hazy from whatever was coming through the IV drip.

"We obviously need to watch more movies if you don't know that." Tony snorted. "All villains have to gloat to their captives."

"Well, we haven't had a pop culture marathon or night since you decided to start avoiding Steve." Natasha's dry voice pointed out.

"I wasn't avoiding him! I was solving the problem!" Tony quickly defended himself.

"And caused Steve to mope around the Tower like a love-sick teenager." Clint muttered, but it could still clearly be heard.

"Over-exaggeration." Bruce said.

"Yeah." Natasha agreed. "Steve doesn't wallow enough to be a teenager. He actually does things and is helpful."

Tony stared at them, mouth agape. He seriously could not be hearing this. They were acting like Steve had some sort of crush on him, which was practically impossible. There was simply no way, because even if Steve did like guys, he wouldn't be into Tony of all people. Even though Tony might kind of, sort of have feelings for him. But that wasn't important.

For a moment, Tony was desperate enough to wish that Clint was singing again.

He was saved from that thought and the conversation as something rumbled above them ominously. The five of them looked up at the exact same time.

"What was that?" Clint asked.

Tony felt his stomach sink to the floor. "Who wants to bet that Steve has something to do with that?"

Silence fell. The rumbling sound came back followed by muffled alarms and crashes.

"I'm not betting against that." Natasha finally said.

"Me either." Clint seconded and Thor nodded in agreement. Tony assumed that Bruce shared their sentiments.

There was the sound of something exploding. Tony looked up worriedly.

"Jeez, what the hell is he doing?" He couldn't help but ask. Tony really hoped that Steve hadn't come by himself.

"I assume that we shall find out." Thor said.

They all grew quiet. There was a tension among them that was almost tangible. After all, Steve was vulnerable right now, but he had obviously come for them despite that. Tony frowned at that thought. It was just like him though. Steve always tried to do the right thing.

He didn't know how long it was before he finally heard footsteps. They were so light and quiet that he almost didn't hear them. There was a second in which they paused and then there was a clicking sound like a switch being thrown.

The door to Tony's cell popped open.

The Avengers stared at it for a moment, before that clicking sound came again and again. Soon, all of their cells were open.

"Uh, Steve?" Tony called out tentatively.

Those soft footsteps came again, and Steve's head poked out from the edge of his cage.

"Hey!" He said with a smile. "I heard there were some damsels in distress, and, being the old fashioned guy I am, I couldn't resist coming to the rescue."

Tony resisted the urge to smile back. He was supposed to be angry that Steve had disregarded his own condition to come to their aide. However, all he could feel was gratitude that the soldier was there. He quickly took in his state. Steve was dressed in a SHIELD uniform, but his own shield was huge on his arm. It didn't seem like there were any wounds on him, but Steve had always had the stoic act down to a T so there was no way to know how he really was.

"Great, you got the doors open." Tony tried to say flippantly, but he could hear the relief leaking through. "How are you going to get these off though?" He wiggled his fingers to show how his hands were still cuffed.

Steve raised an eyebrow, showing how he wasn't fooled.

"How did you even open the doors?" Clint asked.

Steve looked over his shoulder at the archer. "There were a series of old-fashioned switches labeled 'Doors,' so it made sense that they would open the cell doors." He brought out what appeared to be a garage door opener. "As for the cuffs…" He pressed the button on the remote.

_Beep!_ The cuffs on all of them simultaneously popped off, falling to the floor. They all stared at them.

"Huh." Steve looked down at the remote. "I wonder if this is one of those Easy Button things."

"Where did you get that?" Tony asked, rubbing his wrists to restore circulation. He walked out of his cell. Clint helped remove the IV from Thor's arm while Natasha did the same for Bruce.

"There's a guard station up the hall." Steve jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "It was easy enough to knock out the guy there, and find you on the cameras. This seemed to be the only thing that could be a key or device, so I figured it would either open the cuffs or the doors."

"Please tell me you didn't come here by yourself." Tony was almost begging, except he never begged so it couldn't be that.

"Of course not." Steve looked up at him. Tony started to give a sigh of relief. "JARVIS is with me." He pointed to a comm unit in his ear.

Tony facepalmed. "I thought I told you to stop enabling him."

Steve glanced to the right where Natasha and Clint were supporting the other two Avengers. "JARVIS says that he is simply looking out for your best interests." He gave a guarded look back the way he came. "Though speaking of SHIELD…" He paused, obviously listening to the AI. His gaze came back to Tony. "Coulson's on his way to provide back-up."

"Right." Tony could almost imagine Coulson freaking out over his hero going into battle in this state. He would probably have Agent May break all air speed laws.

"You do know this was a trap right?" Clint asked as the group began to make its way down the hall.

"I know." Steve looked straight ahead, scanning for threats.

"Then, why did you come?" Tony demanded.

Steve stopped and gave him a disapproving look. "You're my friends." He simply said. "And I was invited. Though it seems the trap really hasn't been sprung yet."

"So you've met the Baron, huh?" Clint said conversationally.

Steve looked confused for a moment. "Baron?"

"Yes, Baron Zemo. He said something about revenge?" Natasha added. "He is somewhat hard to miss."

Steve stared at them. "You mean the guy who owns this place? I haven't seen him."

They paused at the elevator.

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I've only come across scientists and guards. That's why I said that the trap hasn't been sprung yet." Steve turned away from them, and inserted a key card into the pad to call the elevator. "By the way, how soon can you fight, Thor? Any way we could get the Other Guy to make an appearance, Bruce?"

"It should not take me long to recover, Steven." Thor responded.

"No promises about the Other Guy though." Bruce said as they entered the lift. Tony pressed the button for the 1st floor as the doors closed behind him.

"I see." Steve frowned, and Tony could almost see the gears moving in his head. He was definitely planning something.

"Does J have any idea about what happened to my suit?" Tony asked, feeling anxiety creep in. He had vowed to never let his tech get in the wrong hands again, and he could only imagine what HYDRA would do with his suit in their greedy mitts.

Steve listened to whatever JARVIS was saying. "He says that they had to basically break it apart to get you out of it. They still have the pieces but they're all fried, useless." He shrugged. "I think we should prioritize getting out of here, but we can ask Coulson and whoever SHIELD sends with him to bring home what's left."

Tony snorted. "As if having SHIELD handle it is any better." He grumbled. Still, he could see why Steve was placing them as a priority.

Steve gave a small hum, not protesting, but not quite agreeing either. Tony watched as he pulled out his inhaler from a pocket.

"Something wrong?" Tony asked as their leader took a few puffs from it.

"No." He replied, but something seemed off. Tony narrowed his eyes, but Steve just gave him an innocent look in return. "I just have the feeling I'm not going to be able to grab it soon. Better safe than sorry." He frowned as he listened to something JARVIS was saying. Tony wished he could hear what it was.

Trying to distract himself, the genius looked up at the floor signal. And he noticed that the number was switching from one to two.

"Uh, I think we just passed the ground floor." Tony mentioned, attempting to sound nonchalant.

The others looked up to see the numbers going up.

"JARVIS?" Steve asked. He frowned at the explanation. "He can't hack the elevator. Something's blocking him, but we're headed to the roof."

"Oh, joy." Natasha sarcastically said.

"Well," Steve straightened, "I guess it's about time I meet the gracious host who treated you so well."

"What?" Tony looked down at him. "You're not going out there!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You know, it was a conversation like this that got you all into this mess."

"No. That is completely different and unrelated." Tony protested.

"Yeah, well, I'm the one who's armed." Steve wagged his shield around a bit. "So I'm a bit more prepared than any of you are. At least until Thor and Bruce recover."

"But," Tony would have made a beautiful argument, he knew he would have, but Steve cut him off.

"Besides, without the suit, you're as vulnerable as I am." Steve bluntly said.

Tony stared at him, mouth hanging open. For a second, he couldn't even think.

"Well, he's got you there." Clint gave a little chuckle.

Before Tony could say anything else, the elevator gave a cheerful little ding and opened to show the roof. Across from them, cutting an imposing figure, was Baron Zemo.

"I'm going, Tony." Steve stared deep into Tony's eyes, and there was a flicker of something that the genius couldn't identify in his eyes. He smiled. "Just sit tight, okay?"

And then before Tony could react, Steve had stepped out of the elevator and made his way to face the Baron. He could only stare after him, stunned.

It wasn't because of worry that he stared, though he could still feel it churning in his stomach. Nor did he stare because a tight band had settled around his chest, reminding him of those moments at the Stark Expo when he thought that Pepper was about to get blown to bits due to Vanko's trap.

No, it was because at that moment, it didn't seem to just be Steve Rogers walking out there. With his shield on his arm, a determined glint in his eyes, and conviction painting his stance, Tony could only see Captain America once more entering the battlefield.

And to see that in this smaller version of Steve was somewhat amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I love how sassy they all are. Sassy characters are part of my happy place. BTW, I feel I should explain something now, because my notes for the last two chapters will probably be longish. Heck, the concluding chapter is probably twice as long as the others since there's so much to wrap up.
> 
> This fic was inspired by two quotes. The one in the first chapter of what Tony said about everything special about Steve came from a bottle, and Erskine's explanation for why he chose Steve (which will be split in half and used for the last two chapters). I've come across other fics before of Steve being returned to his pre-serum state, but several of them still haven't been finished which makes me sad. Therefore, I wanted to show that Steve was the same no matter his state. Then, I also got the idea to start each chapter with a quote that showed either who Steve really is or related him back to the serum. After collecting quotes (which are only from the 1st Avengers and 1st Cap movies as Winter Soldier wasn't out yet when I got this idea), I had to put this fic on hold because of life. I'm glad I've finally gotten around to it. Please stay until the end, because I will finish this.


	11. Chapter 11

_"This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows...compassion." - Dr. Abraham Erskine_

JARVIS was chatting away in Steve's ear, but he was trying to ignore that. "Captain, you're body is not in any condition for a confrontation with a skilled opponent." He nagged. "You may have been able to lie to Sir, however, I am able to pick up your vitals through the network. This is a poor decision."

Steve was beginning to understand why Tony would get annoyed with JARVIS's mother-henning. Though it was well intentioned, he had to do this. He was surprised that he had managed to pull one over Tony though.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Steve muttered, because JARVIS was right. He felt no better now than he had before he had gone to fetch the Avengers from their cells. The asthma medication had helped alleviate his breathing problems a bit, but it wouldn't last for long. His best hope was to stall for a bit, and then end this quickly. Luckily, Coulson and his crew were on their way.

So, he just had to last a little longer and hide the way that his limbs were shaking from the strain.

The figure before him laughed, and Steve could see what Natasha had meant by being hard to miss. "So, we meet at last, Captain America." Some deep chuckles continued to break through. "I had been wondering why you had not been joining your fellow Avengers in battle, but the reason is all too clear." Though his mouth was shrouded, Steve could sense the smirk behind the mask. "You've become nothing more than a weakling."

Steve frowned at him, not letting any emotions creep into his expression. "Baron Helmut Zemo, I presume?" He halted his movements a decent distance away from the man.

That chuckle came again. "Indeed." Zemo gave a low bow. "It is an honor to meet you, Captain, though I must say that this is a bit…" Steve could feel the Baron's eyes moving over his small frame. "Underwhelming." He finished.

"I suppose so." Steve took in his adversary, noting the sword, gun, and the easy, confident way that he moved. "I've heard you've got some problem with me?"

"Yes," the Baron began to move to try to circle Steve, but he knew better than to turn his back to this guy, "you see, my father was a member of HYDRA." He stopped and the soldier could feel the anger rising up. Zemo pointed an accusing finger at him. "And you killed him!" He spat out.

Steve blinked at him. That wasn't what he was expecting. "Uh, I don't know if you've noticed." He said at last. "But I've been out of commission for almost 70 years in the fight against HYDRA until recently. I'm not quite sure how I could have killed him."

"You killed him back during the war!" And Steve was seeing the madness within him, the insanity that seemed to have plagued the members of HYDRA and the Nazi Party that truly believed that their way was true and right. "You and your men destroyed the factory where he worked as a scientist!"

That was certainly a surprise. "If I did do that, then he should have known what he was getting into when he joined HYDRA." Steve admitted though he was a bit skeptical about what the Baron was saying. "It was war. Casualties are somewhat inevitable." He paused. "That was a long time ago though. Are you sure it wasn't your grandfather?"

"No!" Zemo shouted. "It was my father! And so what if it was war! You are responsible!"

Steve thought that he should probably act more shocked, but he had seen enough in this future that it wasn't worth getting worked up over. "Then, you'd have to be over 70 years old." He calmly said. "You're certainly…" _What was that word Tony used when we met?_ "… spry." He finished.

"HA!" The Baron began to pace. "I joined HYDRA after it went underground and I was old enough, and I continued his work. Can you guess what that work was, _supersoldier_?" He sneered at him.

Steve's heart dropping had nothing to do with his condition. "The serum."

"Correct." Zemo declared. "And I ended up testing it on myself."

Distantly, Steve heard Bruce groaning, "That never ends well."

"It may not have granted me all that was given to you." Zemo gloated. "But it gave me longevity and increased my genius even more. Despite the cost, I have found it to be worth it."

"I'm sure you do." Steve replied, but this conversation sounded way too similar to one that he had had with the Red Skull all of those years ago. He somehow got a feeling that there was a reason that Zemo kept his face covered.

"I had hoped to test my strength against yours, making my revenge even sweeter. Conquering the supposed perfect subject for the serum would be an honor." At this, Zemo drew his sword, and Steve tensed, readying his shield. "However, destroying you will have to suffice."

Zemo launched himself at Steve. The soldier just barely managed to bring his shield up in time to meet the sword strike. The Baron followed up with a punch aimed at his face, but Steve managed to dodge it, the sword scraping along the shield as he got out of the way.

Before he could recover, the sword was coming at him again, but Steve managed to duck. Zemo was faster than Steve had expected, and he was obviously skilled in the blade. Everything faded out as Steve put all of his concentration parrying Zemo's blows. He tried to use the minimal amount of movement as strike after strike came.

It was getting more difficult as the minutes dragged on. Steve knew he couldn't last much longer as fatigue dragged at his arms and legs. He could also barely breathe and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping. He needed a plan, and he needed it now.

_Keep calm and breathe._ The words echoed in his mind even as he analyzed the Baron's moves and tried to stop them. Still, he could tell that the man was smiling as he was slowly beaten down bit by bit.

An idea sprouted in the back of his mind, but he would have to wait for the right moment to implement it.

All too soon, Steve found himself faltering, and his shield dropped just a tiny bit. Zemo took advantage of it and thrust the handle of his sword, surprisingly not the blade, into Steve's solar plexus. He gave a choking gasp and fell to his knees.

_Keep calm and breathe._

"So this is what Captain America is reduced to?" Baron Zemo stepped back in order to gloat. "Pathetic." He sneered. The Baron began to pace again, but it was more like the prowl of a cat that had finally cornered his prey and knew that it was at his mercy.

"Then, again," he continued, "I guess this is what you always were." He drew his gun from its holster, taking a shot at Steve but he managed to roll away from it. The Baron didn't even notice that he took the opportunity to transfer the shield to his right hand. "Everything about you came from the serum. Otherwise, you are just a weak, little brat."

"Maybe." Steve managed to breathe out.

"And I guess your friends will pay the price." Zemo said almost conversationally. "Once I'm done with you, I will dispatch them."

"You really think I didn't call back-up?" Steve shakily managed to pull himself up, so that he could more easily look at the Baron. "They'll be here soon. And even if I fall, Thor at least will have recovered enough to protect the others."

"Perhaps." His opponent tilted his head. "But that will not save you."

"I didn't come out here expecting to live." Steve said simply, and that was when he knew his moment had arrived.

Putting all of his weight into it, Steve threw his shield. It hit Zemo right in the head, though not with enough force to knock him out as Steve's throws usually did. Still, it stunned the man for a second as he jerked back, and both his gun and sword along with Steve's shield clattered to the floor. That second was all Steve needed.

_Bang!_ The first shot managed to catch Zemo in the thigh, making him fall to his knees. _Bang!_ The second bullet pierced the Baron's left shoulder. _Bang!_ The third bullet clipped his right shoulder. _Bang!_ The fourth bullet hit Zemo on his right leg, and the strain was finally too much as he collapsed on the ground.

Breathing hard, Steve brought down his gun. It wasn't the prettiest bullet pattern he had ever made, but it had got the job done. He stood on shaking legs and made his way over to the downed Baron, picking up his shield along the way. He gazed down at him.

Zemo gave a weak chuckle. "Surprising, Captain." He too was breathing a bit hard, probably to control the pain of having several bullet wounds. "Using a gun? I would have thought that those things would be too dirty for you to fight with."

"I'm from Brooklyn." Steve huffed out. "We don't have rules when it comes to fights. And I was in a war, you know."

"I see." Steve could sense the Baron's sneer. "Going to finish the job? Like the good soldier you are?" He nodded a bit towards the gun still clasped in Steve's hand.

Steve glanced down at it. "If I was a good soldier, I would've followed orders and I wouldn't be here." He said softly, and he looked into the Baron's eyes. With that he brought his shield down one last time, knocking Zemo out cold. "I may kill during war, but that doesn't make me a murderer." He whispered, though he couldn't be heard anymore.

It was over. Relief began to flood through Steve's veins, and he could barely expand his lungs and stay standing as the adrenaline rush faded. He could feel himself falling over, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was so tired. And after all, he'd gotten the guy so the others were safe.

The world was beginning to fade around him.

Warm, strong arms caught him. Steve found himself looking into familiar brown eyes that were edged in panic. That wasn't good. Steve didn't want to make Tony upset, even with all of the fights they had had due to him going back to normal.

He thought that Tony was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't really hear him or the British voice sounding in his ear. It wasn't Peggy's voice, so Steve was confused as to who it could be.

Hands fumbled for something around his belt and he could feel smooth plastic being held to his lips. He breathed in, and realized that someone was giving him his inhaler's medication. It didn't hurt to breathe, so it was kind of weird.

The thought occurred to Steve that he might be dying. He remembered the last time he had thought that, and the words that he regretted not being able to say. Luckily, those brown eyes were still above him, even as everything else was fading into black.

Steve lifted his arm, and he thought it might be the hardest thing he had ever done because it was suddenly incredibly heavy. He placed his hand against the cheek of that familiar face, feeling the scratch of his goatee under his fingertips.

He managed to give him a small smile. "...I love you, Tony."

Steve's hand dropped as his world swirled into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Steve confessing his feelings here legitimately surprised me. Why? Because I had intended for Tony to admit his feelings before Steve fell unconscious. Once again, Steve manages to surprise everyone by breaking our expectations and doing even better than we hoped. Also, Steve may be Mr. Stoic from the 1940's, but I think he's a bit braver than Tony when it comes to speaking about what he believes. Like Clint said, Tony has issues when it comes to talking about things that matter. I am a bit proud of this ending for the chapter though, because after the adrenaline faded, Steve really would be in bad shape and that would definitely alter his perceptions and make them fuzzy. I think I pulled it off though.


	12. Chapter 12

_"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing: That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." - Dr. Abraham Erskine_

The only sounds to be heard were the beep of the heart monitors and the whoosh of the ventilator. It didn't stop Tony from glancing up every now and then from his tablet, which held the schematics of the ray gun and the scientist's notes, to see if anything had changed.

It hadn't.

Tony still remembered every second of that battle. In the moment that Steve had stepped off the elevator, a voice had come through the speaker that told them that if they tried to help their Captain, he would immediately be killed by a sniper. Steve had probably known that the Baron would have some measures to prevent the Avengers' interference, but Tony bet he hadn't known what form it would take. It was clear that Baron Zemo was at the same level as Steve when it came to strategizing.

That's why he and the other Avengers had been forced to watch and do nothing while Steve fought. It had been amazing how Steve had managed to hold his ground against Zemo, even with the state he was in. Still, every blow had caused Tony to flinch.

He hated only being able to watch as Steve put his life on the line.

In the end though, despite Zemo's advantage, Steve had managed to win. He had outmaneuvered the Baron, using his wits and skills to overcome the limitations of his physical state. All of the Avengers had been stunned into silence as Steve had brought his shield down, knocking Zemo out.

For a moment, Tony had actually believed that things were going to be all right. Steve stood there over Zemo, looking down at him with his shield still in hand. He might have been breathing a bit harder than usual, but he seemed as if he had come out of the fray with only minor injuries.

Then, Steve entire body had seemed to fold in on itself as he began to collapse.

Tony had bolted to him, not even thinking of the possibility of a sniper hiding in the wings, and as he had caught Steve, he had realized how wrong he had been. The soldier's eyes had been hazy, and his breaths were incredibly shallow as his lungs refused to expand. When Tony placed a hand to Steve's pulse point, his heartbeat had been too fast and uneven.

For a second, Tony had marveled over the fact that Steve had been able to fight in this condition.

Then, he had once more sprung into action, telling Steve to hold on, and heard JARVIS's voice saying the same thing. He had gotten out Steve's inhaler, but the medicine didn't make much of a difference. The soldier was so out of it that Tony didn't even know if he knew that the genius was there.

But it turns out that he did know. Just as Tony was about to turn to Bruce who had made his way over, a gentle hand had come up to rest on Tony's cheek, as light as a butterfly's touch. Tony had looked down at Steve and received a small, genuine smile. Then, with a final breath, Steve had said those words.

_I love you, Tony._

The words had been echoing in Tony's head ever since. At the time though, Tony had just frozen. He couldn't believe it. He was so shocked that he didn't notice that Steve had stopped breathing.

Bruce's cry had jolted him though, and after realizing the problem, Tony had immediately started giving Steve CPR.

Almost as if it was planned, that was the point where Coulson, his team, and a slew of other SHIELD agents had shown up. The lesser SHIELD lackeys had taken care of the labs and the minions, while Coulson's agent had done the higher end stuff. Skye and Fitz had headed in to take care of the tech and computers, while Coulson, Ward, and May oversaw and managed the operation. Tony was most grateful to Simmons though, as her knowledge and Bruce's were what brought Steve back from the edge and stabilized him enough to be taken to SHIELD Medical. Tony had no idea what he would have done if Steve had died there.

However, Steve hadn't woken up since then. And then there had been the next blow when all of them had arrived at Medical.

"What the hell do you mean he's dying?" Tony demanded. He glanced over at the hospital bed. Before, they hadn't been allowed to see Steve until he woke up. If Steve had looked scrawny and hurt earlier, it was nothing compared to how small he looked now. Hospital beds always made people look younger and more vulnerable, and Tony hated the way that the sight before him made him want to take Steve and cocoon him in bubble wrap or something to make sure nothing else hurt him.

The doctor shuffled his feet. "Well, we told him that six months was the longest we could predict he would last. And that if he pushed it that would decrease his time."

"What do you mean by you predicted he would not last?" Thor's voice rumbled like distant thunder.

That's what Tony wanted to know.

"The Captain told us not to tell." The doctor said weakly.

Tony growled. He wanted answers, and he wasn't getting them. He felt like he would punch whoever spoke next.

"If I may, Sir?" JARVIS spoke from his cell phone.

It was the one person he couldn't punch. _Well played, universe, well played._ Tony thought. "Go ahead, JARVIS."

"I have access to Captain Rogers' files." The AI spoke calmly, his tone trying to be comforting. "Like the rest of his body, his lungs were returned to the state they were in previously. Captain Rogers' lungs were in decline." Tony sucked in a sharp breath and heard the others do so as well. "He was given six months at most, though was warned that straining himself would aggravate his condition."

Tony felt himself sitting in the chair at Steve's bedside. He heard Clint and Thor arguing with the doctor about why they hadn't been told. Bruce himself was protesting too, since as the Avengers' go-to medic, he should have been told. Only Natasha was silent and came to sit next to Tony, staring at Steve.

Luckily, the doctor soon scampered off, unwilling to continue facing the Avengers' combined wrath. They were all over the room, looking at their captain and friend. None of them could bring themselves to speak as the mood dipped and stagnated.

It was Natasha, surprisingly, who broke the silence with a bitter laugh. "You know," she said after calming down, ignoring the startled looks of her companions, "despite all of the pain and trouble it's caused him, I'm grateful for the serum."

Tony blinked. "Grateful?" He asked, because he had never heard anyone say that, not even Steve.

"Yes." Natasha had a small smile on her face and she tenderly reached out and threaded her fingers through Steve's hair. It was such a motherly gesture and completely unlike the Black Widow's normal behavior. "Without it, whether he had made it into the army or not, he would have died." She drew her hand back. "But due to it, I was able to meet him. Therefore, I am grateful." She stood and walked over to the door.

"Where are you going, Natasha?" Bruce looked confused by her actions.

She stopped in the doorway. "I'm going to interrogate the man who started this." Natasha didn't look at them. "If we can reverse the effects of the gun, we can save him."

"I thought Coulson wasn't letting us near the guy." Clint said.

Natasha glanced over her shoulder at all of them and gave a smile filled with deadly venom. "He will." And she walked the rest of the way out.

Clint had followed behind her. It wasn't too long before Bruce had declared his intentions to return to the lab to continue looking from the serum angle and Thor had escorted him out, leaving Tony with Steve.

That had been almost a week ago.

Tony was splitting his time between being at home in his own lab and being here. The other Avengers were making their rounds, but they all made sure that Steve was never on his own. The doctors had protested this, but they had been over-ruled, unable to fight against the Avengers' protective tendencies.

Natasha and Clint's interrogation had produced results as they had gotten the notes and process of how the gun was created. The lab had been found and it turned out that the guy had some freakier experiments going on. Thor had ranted about it one of his visits. He had led the raid.

Tony frowned as he looked back at his Stark Pad. Going through the notes was hard enough, since they read like crazy with a side of psycho, but that one sentence kept popping up and being distracting.

_I love you, Tony._

He still couldn't believe it. Out of everyone in the world, Steve would fall in love with _him_. Steve was too smart for that, too good of a guy. How could this happen? Tony didn't know, but somehow the words had been a relief.

After all, Steve loved him. He loved Steve. That meant that Tony didn't have to worry about his feelings being unrequited. Steve didn't know that though. And with the state of things, it was possible that Steve might never know.

Tony gave a slight shake of his head. He was a genius and one of the greatest minds on the planet. He could and would fix this. He returned his mind to the issue at hand.

"Hey, Tony." Tony turned to see Bruce enter the room. The doctor looked tired, but Tony guessed that he looked similar.

"Any luck?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Not yet." Bruce cracked a sad smile. "I couldn't get it right for myself, so I'm not all that optimistic about getting it right for Steve." He stopped next to Tony and looked at Steve lying on the hospital bed. "Erskine's notes are quite interesting though."

"Really?" Tony had zoomed through the notes himself. He had researched to get the fundamentals down before reading them, but he didn't have the expert knowledge needed to really understand it.

"There was an interesting note in it. Most probably would just mistake it for a doodle, but I think it explains a lot behind his choice of Steve." Bruce reached down and examined Steve's chart.

Tony squinted at the schematics, feeling like he was on the verge of something but he was missing something obvious. "What was it?"

"Yeah, it was division equation. '(Heart + Mind)/Body.'" He shrugged and put down the chart at the end of the bed. "It's the old what's on inside is what counts I guess. And Steve has always had a lot more to offer than just physical strength."

Tony stopped as if struck by lightning. Suddenly, equations ran through his mind and he quickly went to the blueprints and notes for the ray gun. "That's it!" He stood up so fast that his chair was knocked over. Bruce flinched a bit.

"What's it?" He asked, confused.

"I was thinking that I had to change something big about the gun, since the results always seemed so wildly different. However, it's really so simple as it all stems from this." Tony jerked his finger at the diagram. "What's on the inside is what counts. Though this thing changed appearances or behaviors, there were still similarities on the inner structure or what made it up at the basic level. Even those flowers that had formerly been a streetlamp were the same color and contained traces of metal in them. They were all basically the same inside where it mattered the most."

Bruce looked slightly skeptical. "Even the zombies?"

"According to their files, they were all people who were obsessed with things in the zombie apocalypse genre. It makes sense." Tony waved it away. "Therefore, I just have to reverse the polarity of the beam produced by the energy source. It will counter the initial effects, returning the affected object back to normal."

Hope started to grow in Bruce's eyes. "Let's try it out then."

Tony went to do just that, filled with the thrill of invention and ideas and pure genius. Yet he found himself stopping at the edge of the room, reluctant to leave. He looked back at Steve. What if it was when he was so close to fixing this that something happened?

"I'll watch over him, Sir." JARVIS said gently, through the intercom. Tony gave a smirk at knowing that his AI had hacked SHIELD just to look out for Steve.

"Thanks." He said as he rushed off with Bruce. It didn't take long for him to break into the lab and make the changes that would fix everything. Then, he belatedly got permission from Fury to make the changes. Still, everyone seemed happier that he had finally pulled through.

The best part was that his modifications were working. SHIELD had agreed to test it first on the flowers and then the others who were affected by the ray gun. Each time, it worked. The fangirls stubbornly stuck by their propositions though.

Soon, Steve was the only one left who had not been turned back.

The Avengers were banished to the waiting room once more for that one.

"Why?" Tony wasn't whining, of course not. Clint's opinion of it didn't matter either. "I'm the one who figured it out."

The doctor gave him a stern look. "Given what happened when he was first hit, this process is sure to be painful and he will have to be restrained. Do you really wish to see that?"

Any other protests died in Tony's throat. No, he definitely did _not_ want to see that again and hear those screams. The other Avengers also gave each other looks that held a bit of panic, so he knew that he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"Fine." Tony huffed, as if it didn't matter to him and he sunk into one of the uncomfortable chairs in the room. He frowned as he tried to get comfortable. Did hospitals have a thing against decent chairs?

The doctor nodded as the Avengers followed Tony's lead, and swiftly left the room. Then the waiting game started once more.

None of them really spoke. They were filled with a quiet anticipation. Tony knew that it should work, as it had worked for the others, but he couldn't help feeling a bit of anxiety. And it wasn't all due to just knowing whether or not the modifications would fix this.

He didn't know how long they waited before the doctor came out. They all leapt up, the same way the did when this whole mess started. Luckily, the doctor was grinning.

"It worked." He announced, and they let out a collective sigh of relief. "He's in perfect health and will be waking up any moment now."

Tony didn't even let the guy finish as he pushed past him towards what had become Steve's room. The doctor spluttered a bit as the Avengers also past him, but they didn't pay him any mind.

Tony stopped for a moment before entering the room. He took a deep breath. He was still nervous, though he didn't want to place why.

"Go on." Bruce gently said, and pushed him into the room.

The other Avengers shuffled in behind him, but Tony took a moment before actually looking at Steve. His eyes came to rest on the bed. A smile twitched at his face as he walked over to it.

It was the normal Steve again. Big and muscular and actually looking like he was making a dent in the mattress. Tony felt his guts doing a tap dance, because he had done it. He had fixed it.

In what seemed like a few seconds, Steve's eyes were fluttering open. He opened his eyes and blinked, looking confused. He held up his hand and stared at it. The Avengers held their breath. After all, waking up with your body being different had to be disconcerting.

"Huh." Steve grunted. The he paused a moment, putting down his hand, and looked right at Tony. Then, with a deadpan voice, he said, "Please tell me no one kissed me."

The tension in the room snapped. None of them could help it as they all found themselves laughing. Well, Steve didn't laugh, but he gave them a toothy grin. Tony wiped the tears from his eyes that he was laughing so hard. With just a single sentence, Steve had managed to erase the worries and fears that had followed the Avengers like personal rain clouds for a week.

"Well," Clint said, finally calming down, "Tony did give you CPR. Does that count?"

"What?" Tony noticed a slight blush rising in Steve's cheeks.

"Well, you had stopped breathing. What was I supposed to do?" Tony suddenly found that he couldn't look at Steve.

"R-right." He glanced back at the supersoldier, because he wasn't just a simple soldier anymore. Tony could almost see him remembering those last few moments before he lost consciousness.

"Glad to see you awake, Steve." Natasha smiled at him. "Let's leave the two of you alone for now." She continued, gesturing for the others to leave with her.

"But I have not properly congratulated the Captain." Thor said, as Bruce had to practically push him out.

"We have to go set up the party to celebrate his recovery at home." Clint said as he gave Steve a cheeky salute while walking out the door.

Steve looked after them. "They're not really going to throw a party." He paused. "Right?"

"Well, it'll probably be a small thing if they do. Only us and Coulson's gang at the most." Tony gestured after them, not really caring about it. "Certainly won't be one of my parties."

"From what I've heard that's not necessarily a bad thing." Steve muttered. "So I can basically get out of here whenever?"

"Yeah." Tony noticed that the conversation was starting to get stilted, but he had no clue how to proceed. Because, unfortunately, they were actually going to have to talk about this.

"Uh," The two of them said it at the exact same time.

"Go ahead." Tony waved at Steve to go first.

"Uh, well." There really was a bit of blush on Steve's face. It wasn't like him to get flustered easily, so Tony was kind of enjoying this. "I know I kind of sprung a lot of you in those last few seconds. To be fair, I was kind of out of it and I felt like I didn't get a chance before, with Peggy, so I couldn't really do that again. And," he took a breath to stop the way he was rambling a bit, "I can understand if you don't feel the same."

Tony blinked. Did Steve really think that he wouldn't feel the same? "Why wouldn't I?" He asked aloud.

"Well, you're _you_." Steve said as if it were obvious. "You're smart, you're funny, you care about others but hate showing it, and you're just a really great person. And you're gorgeous to boot." He then gestured to himself. "And then I'm just, well, me."

Tony blinked again. He had never thought of himself that way, but it was more confusing about why Steve would think of himself so lowly. "Wait," he asked him, getting a flash of inspiration, "is this because of how you used to be? Is that why you think so little of yourself? Pun unintended." He quickly said at Steve's scowl.

"Well." Steve fidgeted it a bit. "Even you had a problem with my normal self."

Tony now saw the root of this problem. "Jesus Christ." He muttered into his hand in a facepalm before he looked up at Steve, sitting in the chair next to the bed. "It's not like the serum rearranged your face or personality. Big or small, you're still the same." At Steve's dubious expression, he went on, "I just it was my fault, and I didn't want to get you hurt anymore. I had to fix my mistake."

"I figured that might be part of it." Steve said. "Though I still fail to see how my deciding to push you out of the way made it your fault."

"Putting that aside," Tony really didn't want to get into that conversation, "I do, too, you know."

He looked Steve in the eye to see if he got it. The puppy eyes he was receiving told him that the supersoldier didn't. He gulped and reached out to take Steve's hand. "I mean, I like you, too. In the way that you said. Before."

And Steve got it. He grinned and it was one of the most beautiful things that Tony had ever seen. He had never seen the soldier smile like that. Maybe Steve had, before his best friend died or he was frozen in ice, but no one who knew him now had ever seen him so happy.

Tony couldn't help it. He leaned in and kissed him.

Steve was still for a moment, obviously surprised, before he kissed back. The smile was still there though as Tony drew back.

"So, mind if I kiss you?" Tony asked, a smile growing on his own face.

"I don't mind at all." Steve teased back.

Tony stood and held out his hand. "C'mon. Let's go home."

The soldier took the hand and stood up, once more towering over Tony. "Yeah. Let's."

Tony huffed a laugh as they proceeded to walk out of medical to the Quinjet that would take them back to the Tower. "I'll have to get used to you being taller than me."

"Well, I'll be sticking around so I guess you will." Steve replied, looking down at their joined hands.

"Yeah."

And together, smiling and feeling more complete than they had in a long time, the soldier and the genius went home to the rest of their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: When I started this fic, I had no idea of how I would turn Steve back. I quite literally wrote in my outline: "Tony figures it out and reverses Steve's condition." I also didn't know if I was going to go with the serum route or ray gun route. You can see which one actually ended up happening. I am not a specialist in engineering or computers though, so I consulted the Doctor on how to fix it and he said "Reverse the polarity." The Doctor had spoken so I followed his lead. I did want to put in Erskine's note since the beginning though. I don't know where I came across that because I read it somewhere, but I decided to include it.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read this and thank you for sticking with me "to the end of the line." I know this last chapter was a bit long, but there was a lot of ground left to cover. Thank you for the reviews and love you have sent me. I'm glad I got to write how Steve is the same no matter what, as a good person, not a perfect soldier. I'm sorry about these long author's notes, but I've just wanted to tell a bit about my ideas and the process I went through to write it since no one I know is really interested in this. You've all been great though. Thanks again.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This takes place in a world where the team started living together after the first movie, and the events of the following movies won't really be talked about because they haven't really happened. I really like the idea of them all living together and becoming a family.


End file.
